Do you wish commercial surrogacy were legal?

[Liesje]

I realize there are many countries and states where it is legal, but in most it is not... and I can't really see why.
I was discussing this with a friend who has also had children and both of us think that if it were legal to accept money for surrogacy, it would be a lot more available for people unable to carry their own baby.
I personally would love to be a surrogate and help bring a family the same joy that our baby has brought us, but there is no way I would be able to explain to (and take time away from) my employer or my family for people who are basically strangers to us.
Is anyone else in the same boat?

 

[Ceejay123]

Honestly, I think it'd bring up a lot of issues.. Falling outs and legalities. I understand what you're saying, I had an amazingly easy pregnancy and birth, except for my IUGR. If i wouldn't get IUGR I'd love to be a surrogate, but i know personally I'd not be able to give up a child I carried.

I think a lot of people would be unprepared for it, or may not look after themselves. But I understand where you're coming from. It's a tough issue to be honest. x

 

[special_kala]

No, i feel surrogacy should be a wonderful gift not a business.

 

[lau86]

No, i feel surrogacy should be a wonderful gift not a business.

Agreed. Also if surrogates routinely get paid, it means the less well off are even less likely to have a baby that way- people who would have done it before for free now expect to be paid. It must go on anyway, just isn't really spoken about.

 

[Liesje]

But are there actually individuals who offer to be surrogates for free for people they don't know? I'd imagine they would be close friends or family members who would do it for free anyway, so it wouldn't really be lessening people's chances they would have otherwise had.
Is there a large demographic of people who are able to take weeks away from work just to be pregnant for someone they have never met?

 

[lau86]

I saw a programme about it once and obviously you can't believe everything you see but there were certainly people on it that advertised for a surrogate and people that then did it for total strangers. They weren't working so it wasn't a problem. I might be wrong but I think you're entitled to maternity leave whether you're keeping the baby or not?? For a few weeks at least

 

[supertabby]

It's an amazing gift to be a surrogate and requires a lot of strength and careful decision making. You must be completely sure of what you're doing and that you want to do it. Money has the potential to skew all those factors.

I know there's not going to be millions of people willing to be suurogates for strangers, and that there are many couples going through heartbreak that surrogacy could fix - but lots of women desperate for money carrying a baby and then giving it away without really being emotionally prepared isn't going to help, it just shifts the heartache on to someone else. There's a physical risk as well as emotional, every pregnancy/birth carries a risk (however small) to the woman's health and ability to conceive or deliver naturally in the future.

 

[morri]

I think nothing which involves Body functions or donation should be commercial.
on one side - mothers may do it as mentioned to better their income even if it risks their health(in rumania and other eastern European states egg cell donation is commercial and often done by semi professionals or unprofessionals.
Also if people take money for being a surrogat , someone has to pay them- means even more harder for infertile parents to get a child of they have to pay for the surrogat.
In germany "professional " surrogacy isn't allowed at all for ethical reasons such as , what if the child is disabled , or has a birth defect, and what if a person wanted to keep the child and other reasons.

 

[~RedLily~]

I think a lot of vulnerable women would end up being exploited if money were involved

 

[Ceejay123]

Agree with above poster

 

[hopeandpray]

I don't think it's a good idea. I agree that expenses should paid. However being pregnant carries serious risk and in countries like India women end up being surrogates just so they can pay for a house or to feed their family. Having people do it because they are financially compelled is a little frightening.