Essay On Surrogacy

A surrogacy agreement is the carrying of a pregnancy for intended parents. There are three types of surrogacy: traditional, gestational and commercial. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is impregnated with the intended father’s sperm and so the child is genetically related to the surrogate. Gestational surrogacy also results from in-vitro fertilization, but the child is genetically unrelated to the surrogate. Commercial surrogacy is any surrogate agreement that involves paying the surrogate beyond reasonable expenses for carrying the child. Most states criminalize commercial surrogacy for its ethical and immoral complexity. Gestational surrogacy is more common than traditional surrogacy and is considered less legally complex.

Lori Andrews

What led me to my persuasion was Andrews’ analogies of paying for in-vitro fertilization or Caeserian section, which are both means to having a child. These are services to women or couples that allow them to have children. Surrogacy is also a service and a means for couples to have a child, and therefore is not considered baby selling. The only circumstance in which I would agree with surrogacy signifying baby selling is when the contract has stipulations of successful pregnancy and the baby being born alive. The best example is this is the baby M case, where the contract stated that the surrogate would be paid in full only if the baby was born alive. I find that making a woman to agree that the pregnancy will be successful and the baby will be born alive is wrong. No one can agree to something so unpredictable. This particular contract is indicative of the sale of a child on the basis that the surrogate will only be paid if the pregnancy is successful in the result of a live birth. This is paying for a product, not a service and is treating the child as

Krimmel states that any woman who wants to be a surrogate has some kind of motive for wanting to do so. Surrogates are motivated by money, the opportunity to deal with some past emotional trauma, enjoying being pregnant, altruism, or a combination of these. His argument is that what is missing from this list is reasons for procreating a child, and what must be absent for surrogate arrangements to work is the motive of wanting a child. A mother has a duty to love a child that she carries and gives birth to. A surrogate mother gives up her love of the child in exchange for money in most cases. He states that each of the motives listed indicates that the child is being valued by the surrogate mother and is a means to her economic or psychological well-being. Therefore, the child has a price. (Krimmel,