NYTimes had an article today on the surrogacy business in India, and their key clients in the west. I still haven't completely decided where I land. I have reservations just because of the economic disparity between east and west, and the fear of potential exploitation. However, for many who feel adoption is not an option (can it be so?) - this may be an affordable answer. I just don't know enough about surrogacy and rules in the US, however I didn't know you could pay a surrogate in the US for their services - I thought it was only medical.
In choosing an international surrogate, do you exersize more control that you would with a western surrogate? This is raising huge questions that I feel that we will address for a long time - outsourcing of wombs I believe is here to stay.
Showing posts with label surrogacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surrogacy. Show all posts
Monday, March 10, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Outsourced Wombs
There is an interesting article in the NYT today about women, mostly from America, heading to India to hire surrogates to bear their children.
Am I supposed to be upset at wealthy westerners, getting the surrogacy deal of a lifetime? Do I think that they are crazy pursuing this perfected dream of reproductive motherhood? You know - those types.. they have conquered the business world so they will conquer their wombs? Excpet they are definately not conquering their wombs, they are renting space in another. But is it just for reproductive issues? What happens when a busy, wealthy woman (or couple) want a baby, but are too busy to go through the hassle of pregnancy? Is this type of surrogacy another option?
And for the women who are surrogates - are they being taken advantage of? Are their lives now controlled by these western women for whom they bear a child? What rights do they have? What if they decide they want to parent the child they bear - especially if they donate an egg? But are they just mindless wombs for rent? Or is this a fantatsic ticket out of abject poverty for them? I have to admit, if someone offered me a million or so (10-15 years salary) to bear a child for them, I'd be all over it. Why not? It could open new financial doors that weren't open before.
What really has me concerned is if these women are protected who are providing surrogacy options, what the international laws are regarding children born through surrogacy, and what happens when wombs are now rental options, like a storage unit or a cabin in upstate NY. I think I need more time to ponder this one. This is one aspect of outsourcing I did not expect.
Am I supposed to be upset at wealthy westerners, getting the surrogacy deal of a lifetime? Do I think that they are crazy pursuing this perfected dream of reproductive motherhood? You know - those types.. they have conquered the business world so they will conquer their wombs? Excpet they are definately not conquering their wombs, they are renting space in another. But is it just for reproductive issues? What happens when a busy, wealthy woman (or couple) want a baby, but are too busy to go through the hassle of pregnancy? Is this type of surrogacy another option?
And for the women who are surrogates - are they being taken advantage of? Are their lives now controlled by these western women for whom they bear a child? What rights do they have? What if they decide they want to parent the child they bear - especially if they donate an egg? But are they just mindless wombs for rent? Or is this a fantatsic ticket out of abject poverty for them? I have to admit, if someone offered me a million or so (10-15 years salary) to bear a child for them, I'd be all over it. Why not? It could open new financial doors that weren't open before.
What really has me concerned is if these women are protected who are providing surrogacy options, what the international laws are regarding children born through surrogacy, and what happens when wombs are now rental options, like a storage unit or a cabin in upstate NY. I think I need more time to ponder this one. This is one aspect of outsourcing I did not expect.
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