What makes your mother, your mother?
Is it the person whose egg was used? The one who carried you for nine months? Or the one who raised and cared for you?
In the case of families formed through assisted reproduction — involving donors, surrogates, and intended parents — the answer isn’t always simple. And the law often doesn’t reflect the lived reality.
In this video, researcher Nishat Hyder-Rahman (VUB) explores the challenges faced by intended parents like Andy and Beth, who must navigate complex legal systems just to be recognized as the legal parents of the child they love and raise.
Nishat’s work focuses on improving birth registration laws so they better match the diverse ways families are formed today. By comparing international legal systems and collecting personal stories from surrogates, donors, and families, she’s designing a legal framework that aligns law with life.
Contact Nishat
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