Surrogate Mother

Vocabulary
contracted- An agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law.
relinquish- to give up; to let go; release
conceived- to become pregnant with
gestational- The period of development in the uterus from conception until birth; pregnancy.
carrier- a person or thing that carries

Surrogacy is a method of reproduction whereby a woman agrees to become pregnant and deliver a child for a contracted party. She may be the child's genetic mother (the more traditional form of surrogacy), or she may, as a gestational carrier, carry the pregnancy to delivery after having been implanted with an embryo. Surrogacy is a controversial, and in some jurisdictions, illegal, medical procedure.

Terminology

A surrogate mother is the woman who is pregnant with the child and intends to relinquish it after birth.[1] The word surrogate, from Latin subrŏgare (to substitute), means appointed to act in the place of.[citation needed] The intended parent(s) is the individual or couple who intends to rear the child after its birth.[1]
In traditional surrogacy (aka the Straight method) the surrogate is pregnant with her own biological child, but this child was conceived with the intention of relinquishing the child to be raised by others; by the biological father and possibly his spouse or partner, either male or female. The child may be conceived via home artificial insemination using fresh or frozen sperm or impregnated via IUI (intrauterine insemination), or ICI (intra cervical insemination) which is performed at a fertility clinic.
In gestational surrogacy (aka the Host method) the surrogate becomes pregnant via embryo transfer with a child of which she is not the biological mother. She may have made an arrangement to relinquish it to the biological mother or father to raise, or to a parent who is themselves unrelated to the child (e. g. because the child was conceived using egg donation, sperm donation or is the result of a donated embryo). The surrogate mother may be called the gestational carrier.
Altruistic surrogacy is a situation where the surrogate receives no financial reward for her pregnancy or the relinquishment of the child (although usually all expenses related to the pregnancy and birth are paid by the intended parents such as medical expenses, maternity clothing, and other related expenses).[1]
Commercial surrogacy is a form of surrogacy in which a gestational carrier is paid to carry a child to maturity in her womb and is usually resorted to by well off infertile couples who can afford the cost involved or people who save and borrow in order to complete their dream of being parents. This procedure is legal in several countries including in India where due to excellent medical infrastructure, high international demand and ready availability of poor surrogates it is reaching industry proportions. Commercial surrogacy is sometimes referred to by the emotionally charged and potentially offensive terms "wombs for rent", "outsourced pregnancies" or "baby farms".

Rationale
Intended parents may arrange a surrogate pregnancy because of female infertility, or other medical issues which may make the the pregnancy or the delivery risky. A female intending parent may also be fertile and healthy, but unwilling to undergo pregnancy.
Alternatively, the intended parent may be a single male.[2], or a male homosexual couple.

Surrogates
Surrogates may be relatives, friends, or previous strangers. Many surrogate arrangements are made through agencies that help match up intended parents with women who want to be surrogates for a fee. The agencies often help manage the complex medical and legal aspects involved. Surrogacy arrangements can also be made independently. In compensated surrogacies the amount a surrogate receives varies widely from almost nothing above expenses to over $30,000.[citation needed] Careful screening is needed to assure their health as the gestational carrier incurs potential obstetrical risks.

History
Having another woman bear a child for a couple to raise, usually with the male half of the couple as the genetic father, is referred to in antiquity. For example, chapter 16 of the book of Genesis relates the story of Sarah's servant Hagar bearing a child to Abraham for Sarah and Abraham to raise.
Attorney Noel Keane is generally recognized as the creator of the legal idea of surrogate motherhood. However, it was not until he developed an association with physician Warren J. Ringold in the city of Dearborn, Michigan that the idea became feasible. Dr. Ringold agreed to perform all of the artificial inseminations, and the clinic grew rapidly in the early part of 1981. Though Keane and Ringold were widely criticized by some members of the press and politicians, they continued and eventually advocated for the passage of laws that protected the idea of surrogate motherhood. Bill Handel, who is a partner in a Los Angeles, Surrogacy firms, also attempted to have such laws passed in California, but his attempts were struck down in the State Congress. Presently, the idea of surrogate motherhood has gained some societal acceptance and laws protecting the contractual arrangements exist in eight states.[3]
In the United States, the issue of surrogacy was widely publicised in the case of Baby M, in which the surrogate and biological mother of Melissa Stern ("Baby M"), born in 1986, refused to cede custody of Melissa to the couple with whom she had made the surrogacy agreement. The courts of New Jersey eventually awarded custody to Melissa's biological father William Stern and his wife Elizabeth Stern, rather than to the surrogate Mary Beth Whitehead.

Legality
There is a default legal assumption in most countries that the woman giving birth to a child is that child's legal mother. In some jurisdictions the possibility of surrogacy has been allowed and the intended parents may be recognized as the legal parents from birth. Many states now issue pre-birth orders through the courts placing the name(s) of the intended parent(s) on the birth certificate from the start. In others the possibility of surrogacy is either not recognized (all contracts specifying different legal parents are void), or is prohibited.

Ethical issues

Mother Child Relationship
A study by the Family and Child Psychology Research Centre at City University, London, UK in 2002 concluded that surrogate mothers rarely had difficulty relinquishing rights to a surrogate child and that the intended mothers showed greater warmth to the child than mothers conceiving naturally.[15] Anthropological studies of surrogates have shown that surrogates engage in various distancing techniques throughout the surrogate pregnancy so as to ensure that they do not become emotionally attached to the baby. [16] Many surrogates intentionally try to foster the development of emotional attachment between the intended mother and the surrogate child. [17] Instead of the popular expectation that surrogates feel traumatized after relinquishment, an overwhelming majority describe feeling empowered by their surrogacy experience.[18]. However, this has been widely criticised by feminists who claim that surrogate motherhood is a form of commodifying and dismemebering the female body and thus a patriarchal form of violence, not unlike prostitution.

Compensated surrogacy
Bioethicists are concerned that Indian surrogates are being badly paid for their surrogacy and that they are working as surrogates in a country with a comparatively high maternal death rate. [19] However, high maternal death rates are found in the poorest sections of the population in India. They may not get access to proper medical facilities in time, or there are those who opt not to access them because of superstition. Surrogate mothers in India enrolled in commercial surrogacy programs are usually cared for with advanced medical, nutritional and overall care.[citation needed]

from:
Surrogacy

Comprehension Questions:

1. Is surrogacy legal in your country?

2. What do you think is the stand of religion to this issue?

3. If a sister, friend or close relative plan for surrogacy as a gestational carrier or intended parent, what suggestions can you give her? Would you recommend surrogacy?

4. What possible problems might pose in the future for both parties (surrogate mother and intended parent/s)?