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Once upon a time, not all that long ago in fact, sex was the only way to have a child, and if people couldn't have a child for some reason, they either went without or looked at adoption. These days, with the help of technology, it's possible to have that child using donated eggs or sperm, or with the help of a surrogate mother.
This section talks about assisted reproduction, assisted reproductions and the rules in the ''[[Family Law Act]]'' about determining who is a parent when a child has been conceived through assisted reproduction.
==Introduction==
#the people involved in an opposite-sex relationship are infertile or a woman is unable to carry a baby to term;
#the people involved in a same-sex relationship want to have a child, and they want the child to share the genetic heritage of at least one of them; or,
#a couple want to include one or more other people as the parents of their child.
Whatever the circumstances might be, having a child through assisted reproduction often involves one or more of:
The provincial ''[[Family Law Act]]'' lets people make agreements when they are having a child by assisted reproduction that say which of the parties to the agreement will and won't be a legal parent of the child. (This part of the act is really awesome because it lets people decide who the parents of a child will be, for all purposes of the law of British Columbia, without having to go to court to get an order saying who the parents of a child are.) Under the ''Family Law Act'', a child can have up to six legal parents if everyone agrees:
#up to two people t who intend to have the child;
#a donor of eggs;
#a donor of sperm;
==Assisted reproduction processes==
Assisted reproduction refers to the use of different kinds of strategies or technologies to help people conceive and carry a child to term when they can't, or don't want, to do so through natural reproduction. ("Natural reproduction," of course, is a fancy way of saying ''sex''.) Assisted reproduction may be necessary when a single person wants to have a child on their own, when the people involved in a family relationship are of the same sex, when one of the people involved in an opposite-sex relationship is sterile or infertile, or when a woman is unable to carry a pregnancy to term. Problems involving sterility and infertility may be addressed through the use of sperm or eggs donated by a third-party, while problems involving carrying a pregnancy to term may be addressed by having another woman carry the pregnancy.
Sometimes "assisted reproduction" refers to medications or medical procedures intended to help a woman ovulate and release an egg that can be fertilized by a man's sperm. Most of the time assisted reproduction refers to fertilization of eggs outside the body in a laboratory setting, called "in vitro fertilization." In cases like this, eggs are removed from a woman's ovaries and fertilized with a man's sperm in a petri dish. If the fertilization is successful, the fertilized egg — called a ''zygote'' — is surgically implanted in a woman's uterus, where it is expected that the zygote will develop into a fetus and be carried to term.
There are also cases where people attempt to fertilize an egg at home, outside a laboratory, using a device like a poultry baster to introduce the sperm directly into a woman's vagina, and from there into her uterus and into her fallopian tubes where fertilization occurs.
Laboratory processes can be extremely expensive and time-consuming, taking tens of thousands of dollars and many years to implant a zygote and bear it to term. Home-based processes, while perhaps less likely to result in a viable pregnancy, at least have the benefit of being cheap and possibly more fun.
==Assisted reproduction agreements==
A surrogate mother qualifies as a birth mother, and as such surrogate mothers are presumed to be the parents of their children under sections 26 and 27 of the ''Family Law Act''. However, a surrogate mother will ''not'' be a parent if the intended parents and the surrogate mother sign a written assisted reproduction agreement before the child is conceived that says that the surrogate mother will not be a parent.
Without an assisted reproduction agreement, the child's parents will be presumed to be the surrogate mother and the child's biological father, and the surrogate mother will be a parent for all purposes under the ''Family Law Act'', including the parts of the act that talk about child support.
===Spouses of surrogate mothers===
A person who is the spouse of a surrogate mother ''can'' be a parent of the surrogate mother's child if the surrogate mother, her spouse, and a donor of eggs or sperm sign a written assisted reproduction agreement before the child is conceived that says the spouse of the surrogate mother will be a parent.
==Assisted reproduction after death==
When people try to have a child through in vitro fertilization, the laboratory will commonly store a lot more sperm, eggs and sometimes zygotes than are needed right away. This is especially common where multiple attempts may be needed to have a successful pregnancy. Whether it is expected or not, sometimes a donor of eggs or sperm or someone who intends on having a child dies before the child is conceived.
====What happens if a donor dies?====
Section 28 of the ''Family Law Act'' says what happens if a donor dies before the child is conceived. When there is proof that the donor: #agreed to the use of their genetic <span class="noglossary">material</span> by their married or unmarried spouse,#agreed to be the parent of a child conceived after their death, and#did not withdraw their consent before death, the parents of a child conceived with the donated sperm or eggs are the donor who has died and the donor's married or unmarried spouse.
====What happens if an intended parent dies?====
As long as a child was conceived before an intended parent dies, section 29 of the ''Family Law Act'' says that the intended parent will still be the parent of the child, as long as:
#any surrogate mother gave her written consent to surrender the child to the executor or another person acting in the place of the intended parent; and,
#the executor, or other person acting in the place of the intended parent, takes the child into their care.