Surrogacy
What are some of the ethical problems Surrogacy deals with?
Faith Polamalu
Mrs. Odom
3-4A M.A.P
Surrogacy
INTRODUCTION:
The topic that I have chose to do for my bioethics paper is on Surrogacy.
During this essay I will be addressing the ethical problems that were given. I will
be explaining in detail what surrogacy is and why it is ethical or unethical. I will
also be inputting some of my thoughts and feelings into the questions that were
given as well.
SURROGACY:
Surrogacy, is an arrangement in which a woman who can not bare a child
will make a contract, with another woman who would agree to become pregnant
for the purpose of giving birth to a child for the couple or single women/men to
raise. Individuals who are most impacted by surrogacy would be couples who
could not have children of their own, single parent and gay or lesbian couples.
Their are really no frequency of the U.S population that deals with surrogacy but
statistically gestational surrogacy has doubled from 2004 to 2008 from 738 babies
to nearly 1,400 ( GuGucheva, 2010 ), But it has tripled now.
There are two forms of surrogacy one in which traditionally the surrogate
mother will be the genetic mother and Gestational in which the surrogate could be
implanted with someone else’s fertilized egg. Surrogacy goes back to biblical
times in which the story of Abraham occurs, how Sarah gave Abraham her hand
maid ( Hagar ) to be able to bare a child. The first official legal surrogacy was in
Surrogacy
the case of Baby M in 1986 in which a twenty-nine y/o wf. bore the child of an
infertile couple. In which was traditional and the surrogate was the genetic mother
of Baby M ( Spivack, 2010, p. 99 ). Technological advances began to influence
the way surrogacy occurs, in 1978 the new technology for surrogacy involved the
use of in vitro fertilization ( Spivack, 2010, p. 98 ). Which was the process in
which the father could donate his sperm to the surrogate in which the child was
able to carry the genetic traits of the father. As time went on surrogacy began to
become more technologically advanced due to the many different ways of baring a
child whether it be in vitro or gestational . When both parents mother and father
would donate an egg and sperm to be implanted into the surrogate mother , was
made available by 1985 ( Brinsden , 2003, p. 484 ) .
There are many pros and cons to surrogacy and the process of going
through it. Surrogacy has many pros as to the number one reason , being able to
give a couple an opportunity to raise a child. But, other than that number one
reason there are also many others. Physically when you go through surrogacy their
are many agencies that would require that the surrogate be able to have given birth
previously to a healthy child and go through an evaluation process physically and
emotionally to ensure the parents of their child’s safety ( Lott-Harrison, 2011 ).
Legally, there are no national law for surrogacy in the U.S so each state is able to
create their own laws allowing, limiting or banning surrogacy. So, many parents
Surrogacy
and surrogate mothers are ensured to have legal rights, and privileges ( LottHarrison, 2011 ). The cons of surrogacy are financially, ethically and emotionally.
These three cons seem to be the most popular ones. Financially is one of the
biggest cons of going through surrogacy. Whether you decide to go through
traditional or gestational surrogacy either way the costs can go from tens of
thousands of dollars to more than $ 100,000 ( Herron, 2012). This is a major
problem for those couples who are unable to go through the process of surrogacy
due to the limitations they have involving financial issues. Ethically, many people
feel surrogacy as an unethical way of having a child, due to the fact that they think
giving away a genetic child goes against the societal expectations of a mother .
Emotionally, during pregnancy surrogate mothers would not allow themselves to
be attached to the child, allowing themselves to get attached to the child is harder
for them to give it up ( Lott-Harrison, 2011 ). It takes and emotional toll on the
surrogates as they go through this process, because though the child may not have
their genetics they still have the feeling of attachment because they are the ones
who delivered the child. If the pro or con side got their way nothing would really
change, because surrogacy is a doubled sided blade in which no matter what
concept won it would just end up being the same on either side.
Mindy Hunter a 32 y/o wf went through the process of gestational surrogacy.
In which she was the surrogate mother for a couple who had tried dozens of
Surrogacy
treatments in order to bare a child. She has four children of her own and because
she loves her children with all her heart she wanted to be able to help this couple to
see the joys of parenthood. While going through this process, she states “ this is
truly the best thing I could do as a Human being to grant someone the opportunity
of raising a child.” Mindy was grateful to be able to do this for the couple who had
tried dozens of times to have a child and dozens of treatments to obtain one. She
explained to me that she was truly grateful that she is able to bare children because
it is the most amazing thing that you could ever feel. While going through the
process she experienced many cons and pros, the con that she most often felt was
emotionally. She was emotionally disoriented because she was attached to the
child that was growing inside of her, she knew that it wasn’t hers but she could feel
that somehow it belonged to her. The pro that she felt was that she was able to
carry the child to full term and because of the agencies evaluation process she was
grateful to have ensured the parents that she was going to have a strong and healthy
child for them. When it was time for Mindy to give birth she states “ it’s the most
amazing thing to see, when you have brought joy into another couples lives.”
Though she loved the baby she could see how much the other couple loved and
cherished it, she knew for sure that this child would be in great hands. During this
process she states “ if someone would ask me if I would have their child I would
Surrogacy
say yes in a heart beat. Because I know that I’m able to have children, I want other
couples to be able to have a child as well.”
If I were to rank the severity of this issue I would rank it as a four, because it
really isn’t a big ethical problem well to me. How could you rank surrogacy of
severity because it touches other peoples lives and because of surrogacy many
people are able to have children now. But, I know that in other peoples eyes
surrogacy is a severe problem, but now and days surrogacy is associated with life.
It is natural to turn to surrogacy if you can not have a child or if you could turn to
other treatments to obtain a child. In conclusion, Surrogacy is associated with
many ethical and unethical problems. But in many ways surrogacy helps to provide
joy to other peoples lives and is able to be a process of love and hope for others.
After researching surrogacy I have gained many facts about the issues on
surrogacy and if I could give advice to those who can’t have a child I would tell
them to go through surrogacy. Even though it is an expensive process to go
through there could be no real amount of money that could buy your happiness.
The End
Surrogacy
Works Cited
• Lott-Harrison, S. L. H. (2011). Surrogate mothers: Pros and cons . Retrieved from
http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/surrogate-mother-pros-cons-9368.html
• Herron, J. (2012, November 15). Costs of surrogacy. Retrieved from
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/smart-spending/costs-adoption-vs-surrogacy.aspx
• Spivack, C. (2010). National report: The law of surrogate motherhood in the u.s. (pp. 97-114).
Oklahoma City: Oklahoma City University School of Law Retrieved from
http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=carla_spivack
• Brinsden, P. R. B. (2003). Gestational surrogacy. Human Reproduction Update, Vol.9(No.5),
PP. 483-491. DOI: 10.1093/humupd/dmg033
• Gugucheva, M. G. (2010). Surrogacy in america . Council for responsible genetics, Vol.1, 140. Retrieved from
http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/pagedocuments/kaevej0a1m.pdf