ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on designed to raise serious legal, psychosocial, and ethical issues about surrogate mothering arrangements that were involved in the events that led up to the Baby M trial. A successful surrogate mothering arrangement between a fertile woman and an infertile couple may proceed smoothly from initial contact of the parties to the ultimate adoption of the baby born of the arrangement by the infertile woman. Some transactions are between family members or friends, and in the cases, there are usually no lawyers, no formal contracts, and few problems. During preliminary negotiations, facts are presented by the broker, ground rules are set, and parties' expectations are established. Parties are expected to negotiate in good faith and without duress, fraud, misrepresentation, oppression, or unfair surprise. The drafting of the surrogate mothering contract is critical, particularly in the legal development of the process.
