Argument Essay About Surrogacy

A surrogacy is the carrying of a pregnancy for intended parents. There are two kinds of surrogacy: “Gestational”, in which the egg and sperm belong to the intended parents and is carried by the surrogate, and “traditional”, where the surrogate is inseminated with the intended father’s sperm. Regardless of the method, I believe that surrogacy cannot be morally justified. Surrogacy literally means “substitute”, or “replacement”. A surrogate is a replacement for a mother for that 9-month period of pregnancy, and therefore is reducing the role of the surrogate mother to an oversimplified and dehumanizing labor. The pregnancy process for the gestational mother can be very physically and mentally demanding, and is unique because after birthing the

Aside from including medical complications, there are psychological risks for the surrogate, future psychological risks of the child, lack of trust between surrogate and intended parents, etc. Women may have psychological reactions when being surrogate mothers that include depression when surrendering the child, grief, and even refusal to release the child. This can be seen in the iconic Baby M case. In the Baby M case, a traditional surrogacy was arranged between the Sterns and Mary Beth Whitehead. All went smoothly until the last few months of the pregnancy, when Whitehead began acting on her own. After bearing the child, she had a very difficult time surrendering the baby, and returned the next day saying she was suicidal because of it. (Baby M and Mary Beth Whitehead. Surrogate Pregnancy in Court) She threatened to kill herself and the baby if she didn’t get to keep her. Whitehead had kept the baby for months after childbirth while the trial was taking place. There was an ongoing struggle between Whitehead and Mr. Stern, the two biological parents each wanting custody, and they developed a sort of odd relationship, acting as though they are a couple. In the testimony, Whitehead and Stern discuss the fate of “their” baby, completely disregarding Mrs. Stern, who was the intended mother. (Surrogacy: Baby M) The issue with traditional surrogacy is that the intended mother has no biological nor physical tie with the child. It can cause an identity issue for the child and problems in the future for the parents, saying that only one of the intended parents is actually biologically related to the child. The technological solution to that problem is gestational surrogacy, but that has issues of its own. Gestational surrogacy involves a surrogate implanted with the fertilized egg(s) of the intended parents through IVF. IVF has its own list of ethical issues and risks, but for the sake of simplicity, IVF involves some medical risks.