Surrogate Motherhood Essay, Research Paper

Surrogate Motherhood: Good or Bad?

There are many controversies surrounding the idea of

surrogate motherhood, by its definition, it is a course of

action that goes outside natural reproduction. Although

surrogacy was first brought up in the bible it is only until

recently that it has actually become an issue for criticism

and debate. Factors such as the growth of infertility in

modern society, coupled with the declining number of

children available for adoption, and the development of

surrogacy contract and commercial surrogacy agencies in

1976, have resulted in increasing publicity and public

interest in the formation of agreements between infertile

couples and surrogate mothers (Stuhmcke, 3). Surrogate

motherhood can be approached in more than one way, and some

surrogacy procedures receive more condemnation than others.

One type of surrogacy is when an egg is extracted from

the infertile female and placed in a petri dish and is then

fertilized by the fertile male?s sperm, the fertilized egg

is then placed into the fertile female?s uterus so she can

give birth to the child. This procedure is done when the

uterus of a female is in some way defective, but her eggs

are in fine condition, this is called invitro fertilization

surrogacy or IVF surrogacy (Hanafin, 3). IVF surrogacy, or

total surrogacy is the procedure that receives the least

criticism because the baby is in no way related to its

carrier. The more common type of surrogacy is through

artificial insemination or AI. This is when the couple

wishing to have a child are unable because of the female?s

eggs, the male then uses his sperm to impregnate a fertile

woman. In this case the child would not be related to the

legal mother in any way, and would have the genes of the

surrogate mother, this is also known as partial surrogacy

(http://kizuna.cwru.edu/rlgn120/projects/feminism/opinions.

html).

Laws about surrogacy vary from state to state. However,

only a few states have actually passed laws concerning the

matter, the others have simply dodged the issue. Partial

surrogacy in comparison to total surrogacy is much more

difficult to work out legally. There are the issues of

half-siblings, the biological mother?s role in the child?s

life, whether or not the woman raising the child will be

able to handle such issues, and what the child will be told

when he/she gets older. For such reasons, surrogate

motherhood has been avoided by lawmakers in most states

(http://www.phoenix.net/~townhall/surrogat/surlaws.html).

The initial demand for surrogacy is likely to come from

women, or the partners of women incapable of pregnancy, and

there are many ways a couple can go about finding a

surrogate mother. There are agencies in states that have

legalized surrogacy, and there are also online databases,

such as www.surrogacy.com, which display message boards of

people looking to be surrogate mothers or couples looking to

use a surrogate. Before an arrangement is made there are

many issues to discuss and precautions to be taken.

The first issue would be whether or not the surrogate

mother will be paid for her troubles, in almost all cases

she is given some sort of fee, and in nearly every case her

medical bills and living expenses are taken care of by the

parents that will be raising the child. When a surrogacy

arrangement is done for money it is called a commercial

surrogacy. Commercial surrogacy is looked at by some as a

form of prostitution because the woman is being paid for use

of her body. However, it is difficult to find a surrogate

mother that would carry a child simply out of love or

sympathy. Nonetheless, when an arrangement is made without

compensation for the surrogate mother it is called

altruistic surrogacy (Stuhmcke, 2).

Other debates include moral and ethical questions. Does

surrogacy go against natural selection, and is the burden it

will cause to the children, the parents, and the surrogate

mother, worth it? Some people believe that if an individual

does not have the ability of reproduction, it should be

selected, and technology should not be used to alter God?s

plan. Another reason people think it is a risky matter is

because of the effect it could have on the child. Some

believe a normal parent-child relationship could not be

formed, and it could leave the child feeling confused and

alone. I, however, look at surrogacy as having the same

effect on a child as adoption. While there may be confusion,

there will not be a lack of love for the child because

he/she was not conceived or carried by the legal parents.

I am all for surrogate motherhood. I believe the

advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Surrogacy

provides some couples with their only hope of raising a

child genetically related to at least one of them. I believe

that everyone should be given the chance to have a family,

and if the surrogate mothers are willing to do it, I do not

see a problem with it.

Bibliography

Hanafin, Hillary. ?An Overview of the Psychological

Evaluation and Counseling in Surrogacy Parenting.?

1996. The American Surrogacy Center, Inc. <http://

www.surrogacy.com/psychres/article/eval.html>.

Stuhmcke, Anita. ?For Love or Money: the Legal Regulation

of Surrogate Motherhood.? May, 1996. <http://www.

murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v3n1/stuhmck1.txt>.

No Author listed. <http://kizuna.cwru.edu/rlgn120/projects/

feminism/opinions.html>.