Surrogacy commissioning fathers and HIV

Abstract

Surrogacy is not regulated by a single legal instrument only, nor is confirmation of a surrogacy agreement by the High Court an unqualified green light for the surrogacy process to proceed. In the context of the HIV status of the commissioning father, whose gametes are to be used for the conception of the child in pursuance of a surrogacy agreement, the intended in vitro fertilisation of the surrogate mother may only take place on condition that the commissioning father, and his semen, have been tested for HIV; that he has consented to his HIV status being made available to the surrogate mother, and if he is HIV-positive, that sperm washing will be used to minimise the risk of infection and that the surrogate mother has been informed of his HIV status, and given her informed consent.