Actress Sarah Jessica Parker and her husband, actor Matthew Broderick,  recently released photos of their new twin daughters, Marion and Tabitha, who were born June 22 via a surrogate mother. According to People.com, born at 3:58 p.m., Marion Loretta Elwell weighed 5 lbs., 11 oz, and Tabitha Hodge Broderick weighed 6 lbs. The babies were born in Ohio.

Meanwhile, celebrity website TMZ is reporting that neither Debbie Rowe or Michael Jackson are the biological parents of Michael's 3 children, Michael Jr., Paris, and Prince Michael II. Instead, according to the site, Rowe acted as a surrogate for Michael Jr. and Paris, carrying embryos in her uterus that had been created using donated sperm (not Michael's) and egg (not hers). Prince Michael II, the youngest, was also carried by a different surrogate mother.

If the reports about Michael Jackson's children are true, the issue of who will have custody rights may get more interesting. It is not clear whether or not Debbie Rowe is interested in obtaining custody over Michael Jr. and Paris. There has been additional speculation that Michael Jackson never formally adopted the children, assuming of course that he never thought he would need to formalize custody of the children.

All these cases are bringing the concept of surrogacy to the public limelight. So what exactly is surrogacy?

Surrogacy is defined as follows: "A surrogate mother is a woman who carries a child for someone else, usually an infertile couple. There are two different types of surrogacy. They are traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy. Explanations for both types are below:

Traditional Surrogacy -
In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother is artificially inseminated with the sperm of the intended father or sperm donor. The surrogate's own egg will be used, thus she will be the genetic mother of the resulting child.

Usually, the intended father's name is put directly on the birth certificate and the intended mother will need to do a step-parent adoption, however, laws regarding this issue vary from state to state.

Gestational Surrogacy -
In a gestational surrogacy, the surrogate mother is not genetically related to the child. Eggs are extracted from the intended mother or egg donor and mixed with sperm from the intended father or sperm donor in vitro. The embryos are then transferred into the surrogate's uterus. Embryos which are not transferred may be frozen and used for transfer at a later time if the first transfer does not result in pregnancy.

In many areas, the intended parents may petition the court during the third trimester of pregnancy to have both of their names placed directly on the birth certificate, however, laws regarding this issue vary from state to state."

Article by: Meredith Jameson - http://www.examiner.com/x-2370-Denver-Early-Childhood-Parenting-Examiner~y2009m6d30-Sarah-Jessi ca-Parker-Michael-Jackson-and-surrogacy