Surrogacy Ethically Permissible

“I grew to love her; she was my child!” cried Mary Beth Whitehead in a desperate attempt to keep her child. This emotional battle between the surrogate mother and the client cast a disturbing light on the ethical and legal concerns regarding surrogacy. They stumbled upon an ethical gray area. Is surrogacy ethically permissible? Furthermore, should international surrogacy be permissible? Underlying the issue of surrogacy hides the question of a woman’s role in society. Types of surrogacy include genetic, total, full, commercial and altruistic surrogacy. Some promote positive relationships between the parents, surrogate mother, and society while others downplay a woman’s role in society or harm the surrogate. Consequently, countries need to restrict all surrogacy except for full and altruistic surrogacy to keep it ethically permissible and to preserve the fundamental rights of a woman. The media coverage associated with Baby M’s case normalized the use of surrogate mothers in the United States (Markens 1745). Although some types of

Galston claims science is morally neutral and does not guarantee benefits. Most importantly, science can lead to either constructive ends or destructive ends depending on the regulations and usages associated with it. Subsequently, surrogacy is morally neutral and can be either beneficial or harmful to society. In order to guide surrogacy to the constructive end, I propose countries to legalize full and altruistic surrogacy whereas prohibiting commercial, genetic and total surrogacy to eliminate the violations of the principles of bioethics. The United States, with its frequent use of surrogacy, should take the lead and create a public policy following these regulations. Afterall, surrogacy does not have a moral dimension. It can be a knife to hurt others or be the cure to infertility. We must regulate and use surrogacy properly to fulfill its original purpose: to provide a family for infertile