Surrogate Motherhood

Surrogate Motherhood : Is it Worth It

In 1983 , the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG issued its first statement on surrogate motherhood (where one woman carries a pregnancy to term for another woman , either using her own eggs or the intended mother 's eggs . A surrogate may be someone the intended mother does or does not know prior to the experience . Since then , the subject has become more and more controversial for many reasons including moral , ethical , biological , and other reasons . I will now inform you through this research the many

reasons why people feel surrogacy should not be practiced in society

It is harmful for any child to be the object of a custody dispute , which many surrogacy agreements have resulted in . In a recent case in Britain , where surrogacy is practiced in much the same way as it is in this country , a woman who carried twins for an Asian couple has refused to give the babies to their biological parents . The surrogate was implanted with the Asian couples ' embryos , so she has no biological connection with these children . She now claims that when the relationship between herself and the couple went sour during her first trimester , she made the decision to keep the babies . Apparently , the other couple felt the surrogacy was merely a business arrangement , while she wanted to be friends with the family and have contact with the children after birth . This is one of the first cases in the world where a woman who has no biological connection to the children she carried is refusing to give them up . It sets a dangerous precedent for future surrogacy , as any woman who carries a child - whether it is created from her own eggs or someone else 's implanted embryo - is that child 's legal mother . This can and does lead to custody battles , such as this one (Camber

There have been many other highly publicized cases where a woman who donated her eggs for a couple who could not produce their own then refused to give up the child or children . Since the law does regard the woman who carried the pregnancy as the child 's mother , custody battles can be long and bitter . This has been a problem since the landmark case over Baby M ' in 1986 , where a child was created with the father 's sperm and a donor egg , and the surrogate wanted to keep what was her biological child . Since that time , there have been numerous other cases . Some cases occurred when an IVF (in vitro fertilization procedure resulted in multiple pregnancies , and the couple who hired the surrogate did not want more than one baby . This has resulted in couples who have tried to insist on selective reductions , or who have simply refused to take home more than one baby . In either case , a baby is left in the fray , and the relationship between the hiring couple and the surrogate breaks down (Horsey

While surrogate parenthood can allow...