Encyclopedia of Opinion
Question
Should surrogacy be legal?
Position‹2 of 3›
No. Surrogacy should be illegal.
Argument‹4 of 5›

Surrogacy has long-term negative impacts

Surrogacy has long-term negative impacts upon both surrogate and child.

The argument

The people involved in surrogacy cannot always just move past it. The child may struggle to deal with their unusual origins, and surrogates might not appreciate how attached they are to the baby until it is born and will be affected long term.

Premises

[P1]Surrogacy creates lasting psychological burdens for children, who may struggle to come to terms with their unusual origins. [P2] Surrogate mothers often underestimate their attachment to the baby until birth, leaving them with long-term emotional harm. [C] Therefore, because surrogacy inflicts enduring negative impacts on those involved, it should be illegal.

Counter-arguments

The majority of adolescents who were born from surrogacy have been described as feeling indifferent about the circumstances of their conception. Studies have also shown that surrogacy has no psychological effects on surrogate mothers from six months onwards.

Rejecting the premises

[P1]There is no evidence of long-term effects on either surrogate or child.

Further reading

Zadeh, S., Ilioi, E., Jadva, V. & Golombok, S. (2018)The perspectives of adolescents conceived using surrogacy, egg or sperm donation, Human Reproduction, 33(6), 1099–1106 https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dey088 Jadva, V., Imrie, S. & Golombok, S. (2015) Surrogate mothers 10 years on: A longitudinal study of psychological well-being and relationships with the parents and child. Human Reproduction, 30(2):373-9. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deu339 Teman, E. (2010) Birthing a Mother: The surrogate body and the pregnant self. Los Angeles: University of California Press. van den Akker, O. (2017) Surrogate Motherhood Families. London:Palgrave MacMillan.