An appeal has been made for moral principles to guide the legislation on the the practice of surrogacy in this country.

Writing in the Irish Times on Monday, former social worker, Margaret Lee, says the State has to find its moral compass in dealing with the complexities around surrogacy.

“It has to decide to either outlaw or regulate the manner in which one woman pays another woman to bear a child which she then will raise as her own. Whatever the outcome, it is important that the ethical issues be debated, she writes.

She mentions three morally dubious aspects of surrogacy that must be dealt with: “possible exploitation of the surrogate mother, transparency of the transaction that takes place between the parties, and potential for future conflict which could embroil all the three parties [surrogate, child, contracting client(s)/intending parent(s)”.