Harry Eugenio B Ares Jr

2015 – 12859

AN ACT

LEGITIMIZING SURROGACY AS AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR FAMILY

PLANNING

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Families are the core of the nation. Filipino partners, married or unmarried, give birth to

children in the rate of 16 births per 1000 people. Filipinos are accustomed to the general way of

bringing a child into this world: through natural process of conception and giving birth from the

mother’s womb. However, some Filipino couples are physically incapable of doing so. There are

alternative methods of conceiving a child of their own, without the female partner undergoing

the process of pregnancy: one of which is surrogacy.

Surrogacy, specifically gestational surrogacy, is when a sperm and an ovum from a

couple is fertilized by IVF and transferred to a surrogate. A surrogate literally means a

“substitute”, or a third party. In this procedure, couples may now avail of having a genetic child

of their own, without the possible expense of the female’s life. However, surrogacy in the

Philippines are in a stale mate; currently, it is neither prohibited, allowed, nor regulated. Hence,

this bill shall recognize surrogacy as an acceptable alternative to the natural method of bringing a

child to this world. Also, this bill shall also provide guidelines towards the regulation of

surrogacies to prevent people from capitalizing with this alternative.

 AN ACT

LEGITIMIZING SURROGACY AS AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR FAMILY

PLANNING

Section 1: Title. This Act shall be known as the “Surrogacy Act of 2019”.

Section 2: Declaration of Policy.

Section 3: Definition of Terms.

Section 4: Guiding Principles for Implementation.

Section 5: Who may avail Surrogacy.

Section 6: Who may be a Surrogate.

Section 7: Screening of Applicants.

Section 8: Fitness Test for Potential Surrogate.

Section 9: Agreement between the Couple and the Surrogate.

Section 10: