Ethics & Surrogate Mothers
Although surrogacy is a viable alternative to adoption, there are many considerations involved in drawing up a contract between the surrogate mother and the biological parent(s). The market for surrogacy has raised ethical concerns over its supposed commercialization of children's lives as well as over the rights of the concerned parties. The debate still continues as to the legality of commercial surrogacy.
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Process
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A surrogate is a woman who agrees to give birth to a child in place of the biological mother. Through a process called In Vitro Fertilization, the biological mother's egg or father's sperm is combined with the other or with another's egg or sperm in a laboratory to create a fetus, which is implanted in the surrogate mother's womb. When the child is born, it is given back to the biological parent(s).
Advantages
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Compared to adoption, the other reigning alternative for parents who cannot or wish not to carry their own children, commercial surrogacy is beneficial because it gives parents the option of raising a child that is genetically related to them. Additionally, parents do not have to contend with being legally approved or with waiting lists.
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Party Rights
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The rights of the biological parent(s) and the surrogate are called into question by commercial surrogacy. For example, the contract states that although the medical costs of the pregnancy are to be covered by the biological parent(s), there is no guarantee that any psychological damage suffered by the surrogate during or after the pregnancy will be covered. Therefore, the surrogate is not completely protected. With regards to the rights of the biological parents, should the surrogate change her mind and wish to keep the child, the biological parents must comply with her wishes and are obliged to perform the entire process all over again.
Children as Commodities
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According to Elisabeth S. Anderson, commercial surrogacy treats children as commodities because, according to the legal contract, they are essentially the "product" that comes from the paid labor of the surrogate mother. This is ethically questionable because it distorts traditional parental concerns with financial concerns. The rights of the child, Anderson argues, who has basically been used as an object of barter between two parties, are automatically called into question.
The Right to Motherhood
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According to Ruth Macklin, every human has the right to procreate. Therefore, there needs to be an adequate reason to outlaw any means of procreation. Macklin argues that the moral issues of commercial surrogacy are not substantial enough to take away the right to procreate. The same ethical considerations involved in commercial surrogacy, namely financial and legal matters, are present in other existing forms of parenthood. Adoption involves the "sale" of a child, and even traditional parenthood can involve financial and legal considerations because humans can choose their mate on the basis of these same grounds. Therefore, if we were to outlaw commercial surrogacy because it perverts parental concerns with financial and legal matters, we would have to outlaw procreation altogether.
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References
- Photo Credit pregnant image by AGphotographer from Fotolia.com
