Surrogacy is a natural way to have babies who are wanted
With surrogacy, we are sure that parents have a real desire for a child.
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The Argument
There is no permission needed to have babies naturally and some people who have children are unprepared to parent or do not want their children at all. On the other hand, people who use surrogates are undertaking an expensive and arduous process in order to have a child, demonstrating that the child will then be well cared for.[1]
The surrogacy process ensures that parents have a real desire and motivation for a child. Because having a children born of surrogacy is so arduous, these children are more likely to be wanted and therefore are born into a more welcoming environment.
Payments connected with fertility are not new. Surrogacy is a continuation of the longstanding history of payment for sperm donations (“Ivy League sperm”). In the United States alone in 2001, roughly 41,000 children were born through assisted reproduction, 6,000 of whom were created through the use of "donated" eggs and 600 of whom were carried by surrogates. In 2003, Americans adopted 21,616 children through international adoptions and gave birth to thousands of babies using commercially purchased sperm.[2]
Counter arguments
Surrogacy does not guarantee that those who utilise it will be good parents - it is entirely possible that people will go through the process and still fail their children. Many people do not use surrogates for medical reasons, but instead because they do not want to take time off work or carry a child.[3]
Additionally, the debate around surrogacy should be concerned primarily with the wellbeing of the surrogate, rather than the child.
Proponents
Premises
[P1] Children born to parents who use surrogates are guaranteed to have been wanted due to the arduous process prospective parents have to go through.
[P2] Therefore, surrogacy brings about children that are more likely to have a high level of wellbeing.
[P3] Payment associated with assisted fertility are long-standing and surrogacy is just the most recent.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P1] Surrogacy does not guarantee that users will be good parents.
Further Reading
Baker, B. (1996) A case for permitting altruistic surrogacy. Hypatia, 11(2), 34-48
Krawiec and Busby, K. & Vun, D. (2009) Revisiting The Handmaid's Tale: Feminist Theory Meets Empirical Research on Surrogate Mothers, 26 CAN. J. FAM. L. 13(44).
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.
References
- https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0012-1649.40.3.400
- https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/faculty_scholarship/630
- https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/25/having-a-child-doesnt-fit-womens-schedule-the-future-of-surrogacy