Surrogacy as a Controversial and Dubious Practice

Introduction

In conjunction with the passage of time, modern technologies and up-to-date techniques are being developed to improve life and address the problems faced by many, including the inability to have children. For this reason, the concept of surrogacy spawns in which the barren couple hires a healthy mother who is willing to conceive their child and agrees to give them the baby afterwards. In the Philippines, there are still no laws regarding this but there are few individuals who are trying this method for reproduction. Although this could be an effective process and appears to be a promising way for future generations, there are several legal problems linked to surrogacy such as the rise of ethical issues and the possibility to endanger the lives of the mother and her child. Some countries banned surrogacy for these issues and our country, Philippines, is therefore expected to ban the practice of surrogacy so that it will not be tolerated.

Surrogacy as Violation of Human Rights

Certainly, this practice is faced with many contradictions as it violates human rights. Since surrogates only act as gestational carriers, they usually have no privileges to the child after birth. Even if they have had 9 months of pregnancy, they have no longer custody for the child because that is in the state of agreement. For instance, last February 2018 in the Iowa Supreme Court, a surrogate woman has appealed to have a relationship with the child and rejected the money given to her from the contracting parents. Yet her petition has been rejected and worse, the other party has threatened her. Legalizing surrogacy is therefore not suitable to be implemented in the Philippines, as Filipinos value their families so much. Even if it is not enough for 9 months to get the mother close with her carrying child, the relationship they have experienced will not be overtaken. Although the surrogate does not even see the child personally, but in her heart and mind, the baby she brought into her womb is something special.

In addition to this, surrogacy is considered as something comparable as commercialization of women’s bodies whereas surrogacy is an expensive procedure. The rich therefore take advantage of the conditions of the poor, because they know that, despite knowing the dangers, they will risk their lives to survive hunger and escape death. Take the case of a billionaire from Japan who ordered 16 children from various Thai clinics. Each surrogate mother was forced to hand her baby over. Indeed, humanity can now easily be advertised and large companies make considerable profits from their recruits. They unlawfully treat the surrogate mothers as if they are baby factories of the world.

Health Risks of Surrogacy

Likewise, surrogate pregnancies are delicate and may pose a medical risk for the mother during pregnancy until birth. Patients may suffer from morning disease nausea and experience weight gain, inflammation, back pain, chest pain and other painful side effects, according to some health professionals. Various supplementary severe side effects may develop during pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes, high blood pressure or possible damage to your reproductive organs. There is also a risk of child surrogacy abortion or premature labor. To add, surrogacy pregnancy can occasionally lead to twin or tripletsand in this case there is a great chance that babies are born with low weight, placental abruption and possibly a caesarean section. In a case study conducted by Lollo (2018), a couple named Mellisa and Mike initiated a gestational surrogacy with a woman named Kelly. Kelly became pregnant with a triplet, but the couple wants to abort one of the babies to reduce the possible health complications that the child could acquire. Instead, the surrogate mother, Kelly strongly disagreed with it because she wanted all her children to live.

On the other hand, children carried by a surrogate are more likely to develop depression than children who were born to their mothers. Given that they are most likely to have emotional and behavioral problems, it might affect them as they are growing. They also have trouble and hard time accepting the idea that they are not biologically related to the parents with whom they grew up with. Thesekinds of problems are just some of many difficulties that could be encountered in entering surrogacy. For these reasons, surrogacy in the Philippines should be prohibited, for it poses a lot of health risks for both the surrogate and the child.

Finally, there is more rewarding experience that enables prospective parents to complete their families rather than to conceive by surrogacy. Adoption can be an alternative and an effective way to get a child. It takes advantage for the reason that you can choose based on your age and gender preference – whether you want a boy or a girl. When you go to adoption centres, you can choose which specific child you want. The best thing about adoption is that a new family can take good care for an orphan– which is good for both the child and the parents. However, surrogacy posts a dangerous and challenging condition so there is no assurance that the surrogate mother will have a successful childbirth. There are also chances in surrogacy that the surrogate child is born with disability and the intended parents would not want to have the child.

Conclusion

Summing up, surrogacy is a very delicate and sensitive issue and the decisions must be depending on the couple. Moreover, surrogacy is balancing on an ethical edge when mixing the perceived 'sacred' process of reproduction and having a child with work and money. Many people’s sentiments about surrogacy are that women selling their intimate, physical, bodily services and functions for money. The woman bears and carries a child for 9 months and in exchange of fee or money, a surrogate mother will permanently commend and relinquishes it to the commissioning parent or couple. The world is presently too crowded and there are a lot of children who don’t have parents, in need of family and guidance. People have a moral responsibility and duty of taking care children who need a family rather than proceed to produce babies into an overpopulated world. As a result, a homeless kid will be given a chance to have a new family and to start a new life. In addition, surrogacy does have a lot of risks that might happen unexpectedly. There is no assurance that surrogate mother will have a successful delivery, it will be both danger for the mother and child. If the surrogate mother had or has health issues, it can affect the health of the child and the pregnancy would be risky. In both sides, it can be an emotional challenge for the surrogate mother and Biological parents. Surrogacy interfere an ethically and legally fraught process. Commissioning parent or couple have the cogitation that commercial surrogacy is just a simple transaction that can be achieved and performed with ease. They were told to achieve emotional contentment and a family of their own by the process of surrogacy. Nevertheless, it is the parents who will need to think and decide with an open, clear and doubtless mind. 

Works Cited

1. Lollo, Amanda. 'The Ethical and Legal Issues of Surrogacy: A Case Study of Gestational Surrogacy.' Journal of Medical Ethics, vol. 44, no. 6, 2018, pp. 387-392.
2. Blyth, Eric, et al. 'Surrogate mothers 10 years on: A longitudinal study of psychological well-being and relationships with the parents and child.' Human Reproduction, vol. 27, no. 11, 2012, pp. 3138-3146.
3. Chambers, Anne. 'Surrogacy, Agency, and Welfare: A Feminist Critique of Neoliberalism.' Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 44, no. 1, 2018, pp. 91-114.
4. Hird, Myra J. 'Reproduction, Ethics, and Public Policy.' Bioethics, vol. 27, no. 5, 2013, pp. 239-248.
5. Mason, Mary Ann. 'Reproduction and the Moral Value of Womanhood.' Bioethics, vol. 31, no. 5, 2017, pp. 387-394.
6. Nandi, Robin. 'The Surrogate and the Surrogated: Biopower and the Feminist Imaginary in India’s Surrogacy Industry.' Medical Anthropology Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 4, 2017, pp. 560-577.
7. Teman, Elly. 'Birthing a Mother: The Surrogate Body and the Pregnant Self.' University of California Press, 2010.