Bill seeks to punish surrogate mothers, commercial brokers

An opposition lawmaker plans to introduce a bill that would punish paid surrogate mothers and brokers of commercial surrogacy.

Rep. Pahk Jae-wan of the Grand National Party said the legislation will also call for the establishment of a public institute to supply legally donated sperm and ova to infertile couples and provide in vitro fertilization treatment.

"Since there is no law that defines the commercial surrogacy as a crime, brokers and paid surrogate mothers are not punished, whereas paid donors of ova or sperms are," he said.

A life-ethics law, effective from January this year, prohibits the sale of human eggs and sperm in for-profit deals. Sellers or buyers of them could face imprisonment for up to three years. However, it fails to address surrogate motherhood cases.

The illicit business of surrogate motherhood is thriving on the internet. Professional brokers are advertising, giving infertile couple the possibility of having a surrogate-born child.

Payment for a surrogate mother ranges between 25 million to 40 million won, Park said.

As of last year, about 640,000 couples were unable to conceive and spent about 8.6 billion won a year on fertility treatment, statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare show.

(milaya@heraldm.com)



By Lee Sun-young