Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Do you support Surrogacy?



Surrogacy:
It is often devastating and life changing experience for women to discover that for various reasons they cannot become pregnant and have children of their own. In most cases these include unsuccessful attempts at assisted reproductive technology (ART) or having a non-functional uterus, the remaining option other than adoption is surrogacy. Surrogacy is the process of giving birth as a surrogate mother or of arranging such a birth. There are two kinds of surrogate mothers, which are traditional and gestational.
A.    Traditional surrogates: a woman who is artificially inseminated with the father’s sperm. She then carries the baby and delivers it for the parents to raise.
B.     Gestational surrogates: In vitro fertilization (IVF) makes it possible to harvest eggs from the mother, fertilize them with sperm from the father. A gestational surrogate has no genetic ties with the child.
Some the ways to finding a surrogate is through family and friends. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine accepts certain family ties as acceptable for surrogates. In this case scenario, the child would carry the same genes as a child born of incest between first relatives. Another option that can be used is a surrogacy agency. There are an estimated 100 agencies operating in the U.S.  The agency goes as far as helping parents find suitable surrogates, makes arrangements, and collects fees. The cost for surrogacy can range from $80,000 to $120,000. The factors that determine the cost include whether the surrogate has medical insurance or the parents have to buy a surrogacy-pregnancy policy for her.






Background: In many countries, surrogacy has been a prevalent practice since pre-historic times. Within many religions and civilizations, surrogate mothers were praised for their good deeds and service to others.
            American Indians: If an American Indian woman was found to be infertile, the family would have to consult a doctor. If the herbal remedies did not work, the husband would take another woman and impregnate her. There would be no relationship with the barren wife.
            Spanish Royals: In Spain, the king would take in several surrogates until a son was born. The surrogate mother will become a nanny to all the royal children.
            Modern Day: The modern concept of surrogacy dates back to mid -1970s. Noel Keane wrote the first surrogacy contract.

The  first traditional paid surrogacy arrangement was conducted in 1980 where a 37 year old woman acted as a surrogate and paid $10,000 upon the successful delivery of the baby.


Yet some may say this is a good option for families that can 't  produce their own children, but there are many issues raised by surrogacy. These include: rights of the children produced, fraud by surrogacy companies, exploitation, and transforming a women’s body into a commercial transaction. Stay tuned!

2 comments:

  1. LeAnna,

    This is such an interesting topic, I really enjoyed reading your post. I think it is insane how much money this costs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very interesting indeed. But I have to challenge the phrase "cannot become pregnant and have children of their own" - I understand how devastating it can be, to have to relinquish the dream of biological offspring. I hope, however, that prospective parents in that position will also consider how joyous it can be to raise adoptive children. In neither case are they "their own," children are autonomous individuals. ("Your children are not YOUR children," as Kahlil Gibran said.) The rewards of adoptive parenting, though, are great. This alternative to expensive and emotionally-fraught surrogacy should not be neglected.

    ReplyDelete