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The rapid advances that take place regularly in the field of medical science, coupled with the changes in everyday lifestyles, have led to a growing number of couples opting for adoption or surrogacy as a means of having a child.

Alongside this is the growing popularity of the Internet, which is becoming more and more an integral part of all aspects of lives in all parts of the world. Hence, it was only be a matter of time before the Internet would be widely used as a means to facilitate the process of adoption or surrogacy.

The Internet already provides detailed information about how to go about the process and who are the people who can apply for adoption or surrogacy.

Google ads for online adoption agencies

A large amount of adoption and surrogacy research is started online.Over 4.5 million searches are carried out on Google each month on topics related to adoption and about 0.5 million searches are carried out on topics related to surrogacy.

The growing popularity of these search terms has led to searches for adoption or surrogacy-related topics even displaying rather inappropriate-looking ads, such as the one pictured here, which includes a Google Checkout button among search results for ‘International adoption agencies’.

However, indiscriminate use of the Internet for these purposes could come with its own set of problems that are much more serious than a few awkwardly placed searched ads.

A Double-Edged Sword

A while ago, a woman came across a couple online, who were on the lookout for a woman agreeable to be a surrogate mother to their child. The parties concerned then made an informal agreement for surrogacy using the ovum of the surrogate mother and the sperm of the intended father.

Usually people who undertake such arrangements in the U.K. receive a lot of counseling and advice from non-profit organizations. Since the parties mentioned above met through the Internet, they did not have the advantage of such support.

At a later stage, they had some disputes and the surrogate mother refused to hand over the child to the intended parents. The courts also sided with her, keeping the welfare of the child in mind, as the intended parents had not had much interaction with the child.

Similar and various other problems can also occur in cases of adoptions being arranged over the Internet if the parents and child do not receive appropriate counseling.

Need For Offline Control

It may be advisable and indeed necessary, that the authorities concerned lay down certain laws for people who wish to go in for adoption or surrogacy via the Internet, in order to avoid misunderstandings and disputes in future. This would certainly be best for the children concerned.