led against those who arrange compensated surrogacy contracts for profit. Parties to uncompensated surrogacy contracts, however, cannot have their contracts enforced by New York courts if a dispute arises. Moreover, judicial determinations regarding custody and parental status will be guided by family law, not contract, principles, which are guided by the best interests of the child. Courts have been expressly prohibited from holding a surrogate's participation in a surrogacy arrangement against her in a custody or visitation dispute." The New York State court of appeals have also determined who should be the legal mothe!
             r of the child born in a surrogacy agreement as follows: "If the genetic mother is an egg donor with no intention of raising the child, the birth mother is the legal mother. But, if the birth mother is a surrogate whose uterus is implanted with the fertilized ovum of another woman, the genetic mother is the legal mother." In other words, if the surrogacy was traditional, as defined above, the surrogate mother is considered the legal mother. However, if the surrogate mother was a gestational mother, the woman who provided the eggs, hired the surrogate, and intended to raise the child is considered to be the legal mother.
             One of the most interesting, and probably the least studied, group of people involved in the surrogacy agreements are the surrogate mothers themselves. What motivates these women to become a surrogate mother? Why would a woman want to put herself through nine months of what can be a difficult pregnancy, and labor or even have to face giving birth by way of C-Section? Do women do it just for the money?
             According to Thomas A. Shannon, a psychiatrist who was working with a matching agency (an agency that brings together the potential surrogates, and the couples who want to employ their services) had found that the monetary compensation was not the main driving force for the surrog...