Womb for rent

In this era of high medical technology and free market, the new reproductive technologies such as sperm donation, insemination, cloning and surrogacy has always raised pros and cons since it was invented. Not merely only from the culture or religion based debates but also from the humanity side of it.

According to the Webster’s new world dictionary, Surrogate means to delegate, to substitute. In the medical reproduction term surrogacy means to arrange a woman to bear a child, carries and delivers for another couple or person. Meaning the woman’s womb is used technically to bear a womb for nine months and then delivers it for the adoption of another couple or person.

In the medical term there are two (2) types of surrogacy. Traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy. The traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is the child’s genetic mother. In that, the child may be conceived via artificial insemination or impregnated trough IUI (Intrauterine insemination) or ICI (Intracervical insemination) performed from a clinic. The advantage of traditional surrogacy is that there is still biological connection to the couple since the male provided his own sperm. But the disadvantage is emotional attachment of the surrogate mother to the baby in her womb, especially since the egg came from her. While the gestational surrogacy, the woman carrying the child maybe genetically unrelated to the child, therefore it requires the transfer of embryo to the woman’s womb. Most couples would prefer this because the surrogate mother is not the supplier of the egg.

Surrogacy procedure is obviously not easily done and costly. In 2009, the average cost of surrogacy ranged from $25,000 to $100,000. The time frame can take to years from the beginning couples to decide on surrogacy to legally process adopting the child later after the child is born.

The surrogacy contract agreement form of bearing child will usually takes place in an agency where a couple or a person agreed to pay certain amount of money to have their genetic or non genetic embryo beared by a woman. The surrogate mother who agreed to bear the child for nine (9) months then give out the born child to the couple or a person. There are reasons why surrogacy happens. It can be because the couple are not medically fit to have babies, or there are certain health reasons behind it. Some because of the social parents (parents to raise the child) is gay or lesbian but wanted to adopt a child or maybe he/she is a single parent. On the other hand there are also reasons behind a person becoming a surrogate mother, but mainly because of financial reason.

In certain countries such as Singapore, surrogacy is illegal that is why couples who are seeking to do surrogate procedure need to go to overseas country such as Malaysia, India to perform the contract.

In New Delhi, India, a certified surrogate mother clinic can get $6,000 from the $28,000 total surrogacy procedure cost (nd, the star online). The issue of wealthy foreigners paying poor Indians to have babies has raised ethical concerns in many Indian minds about “baby factories” despite the fact that the Indian government has been pushing the country as a medical tourism destination. Many of the surrogate mothers in the clinc has been “improved economically” since they had been a surrogate, some even go as far to do it again.

Despite the positive encounter the surrogacy had on improving the surrogate mother financially, there are some arguments which says it was not human for the mother since it is similar to a form of human exploitation and prostitution. Some religious organizations firmly forbid their members from participating in surrogacy, whatever reason and however desperate they are to have a child.

Objectively we have to not only judge but also need to see the case of surrogacy delicately since some of the advantages can also be weigh. Such as it can help couples on their marriage-especially when the woman has health issues that becoming pregnant would be life threatening, help childless couples to have child with genes from either or both of them instead of doing adoption, help gay or lesbian couples, and helping a single parent to have a child. Disadvantages are the potential emotional and psychological aspects of being a surrogate mother or the social parents. Furthermore they also have to deal with trying to convince relatives or family members that this is a right thing to do. It will be a big issue to discuss with since there will be a long procedures to follow trough.

In conclusion, surrogacy motherhood is a complex issues. It involves complicated systematic and humanitarian issues which need to be addressed delicately and considered case per case.