Rent-a-womb surrogacy in Arkansas

The Arkansas Legislature is likely to take up the existing law on parentage in the upcoming session to clarify whether it should be limited by medical advances. For instance, a surrogate can expect to be compensated up to $20,000 in today's market. As it stands, assisted reproduction is entirely unregulated in Arkansas. Phil Carroll of the Rose Firm points me to this Tuesday article in the Wall Street Journal, which described it as a class-and-gender minefield.

This could be of particular importance with the passage of Initiated Act No. 1. It's a controversial subject, but unmarried cohabitants can easily subvert the adoption/guardianship issue by obtaining children through surrogacy or gestational agreements, which don't require adoptions or letters of guardianship. Look for this to be a loophole that is targeted for an initiated act if it's not addressed in the next legislature. The uniform law that has been debated by many states includes a clause that has been adopted in Texas and Utah that addresses surrogacy contracts. One thing is for sure -- a child born under these circumstances is entitled to have his or her status clarified, but the libertarian in me says that regulating these types of things is none of the government's business.