Issues in Surrogate Motherhood

The issues and numerous objections of a moral and legal nature surrounding the question of legality include: baby selling, the legality of the contracts, class advantage (rich versus nonrich), religious beliefs, impact on traditional rights of birth mothers, the psychological impact on the children who are the products of these contracts, indentured servitude and prostitution.

Briefly defined, surrogate motherhood involves a man who wants the services of a surrogate and signs a letter of intent, usually promising to pay the biological mother a fee, plus medical expenses, and to accept the child regardless of physical or mental defects. The cost, including legal fees, medical expenses, and the surrogate payment can cost as much as $40,000. Surrogate moms sign a letter of intent, promising, among other things, that they will not "form or attempt to form a parent-child relationship" (Gallagher 28).

The first recorded case of artificial insemination took place in 1790 (Gallagher 27). And since that time women with and without medical assistance have been assisting infertile couples (usually women) with having a family. Even today, amid t

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nd support, the child should be the legal child of the surrogate mother who then can be adopted, the amount of payment should be regulated, mandatory regular counseling sessions and the contract should include a grace period and the adopting mother should actually be infertile. Arguments against making surrogate motherhood legal are wide and varied. Many believe that surrogate motherhood is partly like indentured servitude and partly like prostitution (in that it permits an individual to sell the fruits of her labor and personal autonomy). For example, in the Baby M case the Sterns insisted that Mary Beth Whitehead undergo amniocentesis even though it was against the advice of her private obstetrician. Like prostitution, opponents contend, it makes one of the most intimate acts a commercial, an impersonal transaction. "Because the mother does not admit she has any special obligation to her child; she does not admit that it is hers. The child cannot obligate her, she obligates it: It is a product, conceived for sale and use" (Gallagher 30). Since surrogate mother fees and expenses normally range from $10,000 to $40,000 rich people do generally have the advantage over nonrich people in participating in this process. Furth
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Approximate Word count = 1388
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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