The rights and obligations of surrogate mothers in the Kazakh and American legal systems: comparative legal analysis

The study examines the legal status of surrogate mothers in the Republic of Kazakhstan and in U.S. states of Illinois, California, Colorado, Nevada, New York and Florida, focusing on their rights and contractural obligations. The comparative analysis reveals a broader scope of reproductive and contractural autonomy for surrogate mothers under the laws of these U.S. states, particularly regarding health and pregnancy, fetal reduction, lifestyle choices and, subject to legal conditions, withdrawal from contractual obligations or unilateral termination of the surrogacy agreement. The results of the study confirm that the absence of prohibitions or restrictions on the behavior ofAmerican surrogate mothers contradicts the subject of the surrogacy contract, which is the carrying of an embryo, the birth of a child and its transfer to legitimate parents, the nature of obligations to create favorable conditions for the course of pregnancy and intrauterine development of the fetus, as well as the interests of the couple, who, due to diagnosed infertility, have direct medical indications for surrogacy and wish to have a child. Taking into account the positive experience of the U.S. legal system, directions for transforming the regulation of the legal status of surrogate mothers in Kazakhstan are proposed.

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