Commercial surrogacy has long been criticized because it seems degrading to treat a person as an object of commercial contracts. It seems to contradict a widely accepted view regarding the proper treatment of persons as ends in themselves, and certainly beyond price. Altruistic surrogacy, on the other hand, has been deemed free of these sorts of problems presented by its commercial alternative. I will question this assessment: if persons are not the kinds of things that we should sell, aren’t they also not the kinds of things that we should give away? The answer to this question, which has received little philosophical attention, may have implications for other kinds of child welfare and custody issues as well.
