Surrogacy: Ethical Issues and Implications in Modern Society

The topic I have chosen is supported by the research that I have conducted. What are the ethical considerations for surrogacy in modern society? Within this essay I belive that even surrogacy gives some couples the opportunity to have a family of their own, I think that surrogacy is unethical in modern society. Surrogacy comes with many benefits but everything has its downfall, especially in today’s modern society. I feel that most women in today’s society consider having a surrogate mother. They all want children but are not willing to sacrifice the bodies for it.

My short research will show many females the risks and implications it will have. These implications being debt, emotional and medical risk of surrogacy, exploitation, the possible death of the surrogate mother. Hopefully, when I have given all the necessary information majority of women will no longer turn to surrogacy.

Every person strives to have a perfect family when they are have finished studying at a tertiary institution and achieved everything that they wanted to but when a woman finds out that she is incapable of conceiving their whole world starts to crumble. Because of this some women turn to surrogacy. But when taking surrogacy into consideration there are a few aspects one has to consider thoroughly.

Some Aspects of Surrogacy and Its Ethical Issues

Firstly, women also need to ensure that they are doing it with the right intention. In modern times women are really affected by what other people have t say about their appearance. So if they are using a surrogate mother to ensure that their appearance. By this I mean that woman are very concerned about what other have to say about them and therefore they turn to surrogacy to ensure that their appearance is not altered by the pregnancy, they should not even consider having a child.

Secondly, women need to consider who they will be choosing as a surrogate mother. This is a very important aspect to look over as there are a number of vital factors one has to consider. As the women you choose will be carrying your child after all. You need to consider the surrogates medical history. The medical history should include the following; blood tests and their obstetric history as well as other medical considerations.

When you have obtained all the surrogates necessary medical documentation, you need to assess the surrogate’s lifestyle choices. This includes their history of alcohol and substance abuse. One has to look carefully at these aspects, especially in modern society where the abuse of alcohol and drugs are one of the main concerns. All of these things affect the baby such as, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome. This is a pattern of birth defects, learning and behavioural problems that affect children.

When you are satisfied with everything you need to consider the cost of the surrogacy process. The costs would include the surrogacy compensation. This would be one of the most important payments as this acts as insurance for the surrogate mother. What if she has children of her own? There is always the possibility that she could lose her life while giving birth, and not giving birth to her child but the child of another. This leaves her children without a mother. Once again the cost of all the medical bills would be the exact same if they were going to have a child of their own. So that also needs to be taken into consideration.

These are all things one has to look at instead of going into something completely blind. This is to help that females who could possibly turn to surrogacy ensure that one does find themselves in a lot of debt as life is unpredictable and anything in the process could go wrong where one would have to pay.

If something was to go wrong and the surrogate baby dies. This places the parents as well as the surrogate mother in unnecessary emotional pain (grief and loss). Both the surrogate and intended parent are at risk of going through depression, not just after the surrogacy process, but during the process as well. This could affect the health of the people involved in the process, whereas if they didn’t continue with the process none of this would have happened.

The next concern the intended parent should consider is the fact the surrogate mother might choose to keep the baby. After birth the surrogate mother could easily change her mind and say that she wishes to keep the child. The intended parents are forced to proceed to court, where they are still not guaranteed full custody of their child or are even granted custody of the child. This is because the surrogate and her partner after birth are considered to be the legal parents of the baby. If the surrogate decides to keep the baby, by law the intended parents cannot enforce the surrogacy agreement. When they do eventually get to the family court, the court will make a decision based on the baby’s best interest and not on the surrogacy agreement and place them in that home. This is because you can’t have a contract on a baby. If one does it is considered to be child trafficking or better known as kidnapping. The next reason is that one can’t also have a contract on a women’s body.

When the baby is born, the surrogate and her partner are listed as the child’s legal parents on the original birth certificate. For this to change the intended parents need to apply for a parentage order, which once again does not come free of charge. This allows for a transfer percentage from the birth parents to the intended parents. Once this process has been completed a new birth certificate will be re-issued.

Reasons Why People are Continuing Surrogacy

Many people still turn to surrogacy. This then disproves my hypothesis of people not tuning to surrogacy in modern society. Despite all the negatives that have been explained, some women turn to surrogacy even though they know what may happen. This includes all the positive results as well. But when things are not going as planned or there seems to be any problems during the process, some women including the surrogate mother end up paying for an abortion which defeats the purpose of the entire process. In today’s society this can be seen as a cruel and evil, and immediately a label is placed on the intended mother.

Many people argue the fact that women should not be allowed to allow to have abortion as an option. This is because they knew exactly what they were putting themselves and the surrogate mother through.

Women should consider all the implications that come with the surrogacy process. The cost for the surrogate mother, the child after birth and any legal bills that should rise up unknowingly. They should also consider whether they are ready or not to put themselves through any emotional risks caused throughout the process

Conclusion

Women should consider all the implications that come with the surrogacy process. The cost for the surrogate mother, the child after birth and any legal bills that should rise up unknowingly. They should also consider whether they are ready or not to put themselves through any emotional risks caused throughout the process. Women need to ask themselves if they are ready to deal with all the pros and cons that come with looking after a child. I feel that the information that I have provided should be more than enough for couples who are going to turn to surrogacy, to show that they should not go through with the entire process it will bring to the both of them.

This process also goes against many religions as they believe that you should be the one carrying your child as it strengthens the relationship between mother and baby. It is also usually women that live in poor areas or communities that end up being the surrogate mother as they are looking for a source of income for themselves to live a comfortable life. One does not know what diseases that they might have contracted whilst living in such harsh conditions. This then validates my point of spending unnecessary money on health evaluations. It is for all these reasons that I believe that women in modern society should not turn to surrogacy.

Reference List

• Considerations for Choosing a Surrogate (2014), Mother, Available at: https://www.growinggenerations.com/surrogacy-resources-for-intended-parents/considerations-for-choosing-a-surrogate-mother/
• Sarah Jefford (2019), Will the Surrogate Keep the Baby? Available at: https://sarahjefford.com/will-surrogate-keep-baby/ 
• Surrogacy Risks & Side Effects | Surrogate.com, Available at:https://surrogate.com/surrogates/pregnancy-and-health/emotional-and-medical-risks-of-surrogacy/ 
• University of Birmingham (2018), the ethics of surrogacy. Availableat:https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/thebirminghambrief/items/2018/09/the-ethics-of-surrogacy.aspx