Belgium
A Belgian woman has sold a baby on the Internet, said Rachel Crivellaro in Brussels La Libre Belgique. And now Belgium must figure out how to prevent such a horror from happening again. The woman had contracted with a Belgian couple to bear a child for themthe product of her egg and the mans spermfor a fee. After pocketing their money, she told the expectant parents she had miscarriedand then she sold the little girl to a Dutch couple over the Internet. Now both couples are suing for custody, and the law is unclear about whose rights should prevail. So Belgian politicians are in a dither to pass laws that will regulate surrogacy. But how? Proposals range from an outright ban on the practice to a hands-off approach. One thing we know: We wont follow the U.S., where surrogate motherhood agreements are adjudicated like any other contract. In Belgium, thank goodness, the impersonal commercialization of an embryo is inconceivable.
