Surrogacy in America

The ideas and practices of surrogacy have been around for centuries and have reached a controversial place in our American society today. Surrogacy refers to the term “contract pregnancy” in which a woman is paid to give birth to a baby for a couple that is unable to bear children. Typically the process is done in a fertility clinic through in vitro fertilization in which an egg is fertilized in a lab and then the embryo is implanted into the surrogate mother. The egg in most cases is not from the surrogate mother so she has no genetic links to the child. Generally in heterosexual surrogacy cases the egg comes from the female in the couple and is fertilized with the male’s sperm. This process enables the child to have genetic links to both the male and female of the contracting couple. The practice of surrogacy however is not limited to heterosexual couples. Gay couples are using surrogacy as a way to bear children as well. The whole process of surrogacy can turn into a legal challenge at times, as you can imagine, there are many stipulations and demands the contracting couple may provide on the female providing the services. The contracting couple wants to make sure the mother is taking care of herself and the fetus properly to try to ensure a healthy baby. Then you have custodial issues when the surrogate mother has psychological related issues about giving the child she was pregnant with for nine months up after birth. In response to the issues some state governments have been trying to legislate against surrogacy or allow surrogacy and mandate it legally. Six states currently allow families to enter in the surrogacy contracts while eleven states and DC prohibit the practice all together. The remaining states have mixed or unclear laws regarding the matter. Lastly we have the moral issue surrounding surrogacy contracts, is it really just “glorified baby selling”? Some say, yes, you are after all paying someone to have a baby for you. Others say it empowers woman to help give the gift of life to families who are unable to bear children on their own. Still others say it represses women and discriminates against people. Who knows who is right? I have my biases embedded in my own opinions but frankly until I read the readings on the subject this week, I had no idea that it was even a moral issue! I can see in some ways how the legal issues (idea of “baby selling”), psychological issues for the birth mother, and civil issues can represent some major challenges but I do not think this is a morally unacceptable practice. I think it represents a way to create more families who are unable to have children. Furthermore, I would argue that if a couple would be willing to contract out between 20-50 thousand dollars for a child that having a family is pretty important for them. They would obviously be financially stable enough to raise the child and if having a child is that important to them they will most likely make pretty darn good parents. I think that it is important to note that giving the opportunity to raise children to good natured people will add to cohesion in society, a good natured society. I want to add that this industry does need to be regulated; I think it would be beneficial to make sure there is plenty of counseling for those who decide to engage in the practice and for everyone to be aware of the risks involved and the frequent occurrence of these side effects.