Beyond the moral problems related to the conception of surrogate children (usually several forms of technical interference are needed), and the subsequent evils of “fetal reductions” (meaning the abortion of multiple [“surplus”] little ones who were implanted but unwanted), there are the emotional scars suffered by both gestational mothers and the children. The former are often traumatised by the contractual arrangement of the pregnancy and inability to meet and bond with the babies they carried for nine months; the latter are born into a surreal world of gestational carriers, gamete-providers, and “parents” who have contracted for their creation.
Not only do the babies suffer an existential angst about how they were created, but there are the more easily documented harms:
While surrogate mothers often have limited contact with the child or children after birth, human studies have shown that even short-term maternal-neonate separation stresses babies and can cause dramatic heart rate variability and lower quiet sleep duration, [Ruth Institute founder, Dr Jennifer Roback Morse] wrote.
Children conceived through assisted reproductive technology have experienced stillbirth, preterm birth, cerebral palsy, birth defects and other problems, according to the Ruth Institute. A child born through surrogacy could have up to five parents — a gestational mother, genetic mother and father and legally recognized parents. “With or without the documentation, figuring out who you are is a mess from the child’s perspective,” Morse said.
Susan Klemond has outlined the major problems — legal, physiological, and emotional — that accrue when the Church’s teaching on marriage and conception are ignored. One can “demand” to have a child (although it cannot be considered a right) but the stress on marriages and the abuse of the surrogate mothers are too big to ignore.
Commodifying children will change society’s attitude toward them, just as legalized abortion changed attitudes about developing children, Gallagher said. Increased human trafficking may be a consequence. “That’s why [surrogacy] is being banned in South America and other countries because it does lead to trafficking of women and children,” Gallagher said. Online surrogacy providers claim surrogate mothers aren’t selling babies but are being compensated for being pregnant. However, the child is treated like a commodity, and this will increase, said Brian Clowes, director of research and training at Front Royal, Virginia-based Human Life International. Surrogacy is part of a general coarsening of society, but we’re told we can’t judge and must be tolerant, Clowes said. “These evils grow almost unchecked, and everyone looks at them — and at first horrified — and shrugs ‘what can I do?’”
Of course, one begins with prayer. And here is a list of articles that can educate you about this topic. Such data will be of great help if you encounter others who support the practice. Knowledge is a marvelous things, and so much is at your fingertips!
Recent Comments