What is surrogacy?
It’s a medically assisted family creation method that can be a last resort for those who have been unsuccessful in having a baby. Surrogacy allows a woman to carry and give birth to the intended parents’ baby.
Is surrogacy good or bad?
Labeling surrogacy as “good” or “bad” depends on a person’s beliefs. Some cultures hold family bloodlines as sacred. In this case, surrogacy would provide couples with a child who would be accepted within their family.
Those who advocate for adoption claim that providing a home for parentless children should come before considering surrogacy. Although this is a good intention, parents who choose surrogacy want their children to be genetically related to them.
Surrogates, who are mothers themselves, are helping other women have their own children. Surrogacy is a choice gestational carriers make to allow families to grow while benefiting themselves at the same time. Surrogacy-friendly states take care of surrogates by providing legal, medical, and emotional support throughout their journey. This framework keeps surrogates and babies protected during the surrogacy.
Compensated Surrogacy
Surrogates are compensated for carrying a child that is not genetically related to them, and they do so because their bodies are healthy. Women become gestational carriers by choice. They must comply with many requirements and many work hard to get in shape for surrogacy. This is not something to be taken lightly.
A Surrogate’s Purpose
Surrogates believe in their purpose. This benefits the intended parents and the baby. This will and effort also dispel the fear of gestational carriers wanting to keep the baby. This isn’t the case because their purpose is to enable intended parents to have a family of their own. Legal safeguards ensure that there isn’t any confusion about the intended parents’ parental rights.
Facing Infertility: The Intended Mother
The intended mother in most cases is infertile, which causes distress. According to experts, intended parents have already gone through various unsuccessful fertility treatments. They’ve already spent at least a year researching and considering surrogacy before finally beginning their process. The intended mother wants nothing more than to be able to carry her own child but cannot. In most cases, it isn’t until all else fails that couples resort to surrogacy.
The common bond between the intended parents, the surrogate, and her family
The common bond between intended parents and surrogate is the love for the child being brought into the world. The gestational carrier will carry the child with care, make sure that the baby is protected, and provide a safe environment. She takes care of herself so that the baby will be born healthy and given to his or her parents. As described before, intended parents have been preparing for this moment for years. They have everything ready to take the child home, where love and family moments await.
So, in this case for both intended parents and surrogate, surrogacy is a good thing. It is an opportunity for intended parents to bring family moments to life, and for the surrogate to provide a selfless gift that will also help her and her family.
The misconception of a surrogate’s role
Some people consider that surrogacy is wrong or bad because it uses women as objects to have children that don’t belong to them. The core belief is that surrogacy turns a woman into a baby maker for financial gain. In reality, surrogacy provides a safe place for a baby to grow thanks to a caring and selfless woman who understands the need for surrogacy.
What about all those kids in foster care?
A negative light is shed on surrogacy because there are many children in foster care and orphanages. Having intended parents choose surrogacy over adoption may seem heartless. If a person feels that someone should adopt instead of resorting to other family options, this person is free to adopt a child of their own. This is a very beautiful way to extend and create a family. A person has the right to his or her own choice on how to create their family; no one should hinder that freedom of choice.
Is surrogacy good or bad?
So returning to the original question, is surrogacy good or bad, right or wrong, depends on whose opinion it is and what options are available to that person to extend their family. Everyone has the ability to advocate for their beliefs, and they are allowed to disagree. No one should hinder other peoples’ right to choose what is best for them.
