New technologies and the existing model of protection of motherhood and parenthood

• Authors: Helena Barancová
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

New technologies, particularly in the field of medical research, significantly affect the currently used model of social-law protection of motherhood and parenthood not only in the field of labour law but also in the field of social security law. The current model of social-law protection of motherhood and parenthood covers only the typical situations when a woman becomes pregnant by natural means, gives birth to the child and postpartum will start to care for their child. Under the current legal status such a woman (after giving birth or potentially a man) is entitled to a special legal protection not only according to the Slovak law but also under the law of the Czech Republic and the EU law. Few years ago, there have been continuously growing cases of surrogate motherhood, where a surrogate mother has carried a fetus and after the child is born she hands it over to the care of an intended mother under a special civil-law contract. Although most of the legislations of the EU member states do not regulate surrogacy, labour law and social security law must give solutions of social-law consequences of surrogate motherhood even regardless of whether the civil code provides for surrogacy any adequate legal framework. The proliferating cases of surrogate motherhood have been already addressed by a new case law of the ECJ under which the specific protection of a mother corresponds only to a pregnant woman who gave birth to a child. The increasing frequency of cases of surrogate motherhood will especially require in the near future from the legislators to provide a certain part of the social-law protection to the surrogate mother at the time of her pregnancy, at birth and shortly after the birth, and a part of this protection shall be provided also to the intended mother that will take the baby into her custody after the birth.

Keywords

EN

surrogacy; surrogate mother; intended mother; The Convention on the Rights of the Child; term parent; in vitro pregnancy; breastfeeding woman; concept of a legal guardian; concept of a mother; maternity leave; parental leave; protection of pregnant women and mothers; Directive 92/85/EEC; model of social-law protection of motherhood and parenthood

Discipline

• LAW_&_ADMINISTRATION: LAW & ADMINISTRATION

• Publisher: Institute of State and Law, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: The Lawyer Quarterly
• Year: 2017
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 231-242
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Helena Barancová

• ---