Saturday, October 20, 2012

Commercial Surrogacy: An Appropriate Solution to Have Children Alternatively?


Do you imagine yourself carrying someone else’s baby? It may sound like a good option for some people, but not for others. Surrogacy is the process in which a woman carries and delivers someone else’s baby, and it becomes commercial when the surrogate mother receives money not only to pay the normal costs of pregnancy, but also extra money for the “service.”


The “service” becomes a controversial issue when considering two aspects: the legality and illegality of the procedure is some countries, and the profitability of it. Commercial surrogacy is a legal practice in India, but not in some countries like France, Italy, and Germany, where this procedure is penalized by the law; consequently, Europeans and people from other countries perform international surrogacy, a process by which a woman living in foreign country keeps their baby. Also, the surrogate may receive extra money for being the “carrier” of the child by stating conditions and charges.


Nevertheless, resorting to surrogacy is a great option for same-sex couples and infertile women who can afford paying high prices. In this regard, science has allowed these couples to have children thanks to the creation of medical techniques such as in vitro fertilization and donor insemination. But, it can’t be avoided the fact that surrogates may take advantage of the situation and ask for more money, so more regulations about the issue need to be considered.

All in all, commercial surrogacy is a good option to have children alternatively, but it needs more regulations so that people do not take advantage of the “service.” Do you think it is a good option? Would you prefer not resorting to it? What would you suggest to non-fertile couples?


In the following link you will find an extensive paper about surrogacy and its influence on how people construct motherhood. Also, in this video you will be able to see how celebrities who have resorted to surrogacy have dealt with it.

1 comment:

  1. This is really a controversial issue for today's society. This kind of "business" it's so hard to control. I think the only one solution it's, as you mentioned, to generate restrictions that include special cases as the mentioned before.

    I would also like to add, that as catholic, this topic is really hard to talk about, because "renting" your body for 9 months because of money doesn't seem right in any moral aspect. People who have a vulnerable social status would tend to do this to get the money needed. In the other hand, don't let a couple get a baby doesn't seem right either.
    We must to rethink this topic as a society.

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