ABSTRACT The Warnock Report fails to reveal an important underlying principle concerning the donation and transference of gametes and embryos. This principle contrasts sharply with the principle that children are non‐transferable. Consideration of where to place the line between transferable embryos and non‐transferable fetuses, or children, yields a conception of surrogacy that would set it apart from adoption. The paper argues for a coherent system of surrogacy supported by regulative institutions in which surrogacy is seen to facilitate an acceptable form (...) of parenthood. (shrink)