[QueenAngie]

Rent a Womb topic:

This clinic in India cares for surrogate mothers
for the 9 months until the healthy baby is
born and goes
to his/her conception parents.

Does this occur in your country?
Would you be a surrogate?

This is an interesting topic and what are your thoughts?

[mcmama]

It is interesting. They are impregnated with the in vitro fertilized egg and sperm of the couple, so there is no genetic connection. So to my mind, the question is whether or not surrogacy is ok, and I think that really depends. There should be some economic payoff for it, unless you are doing it for family.

It also depends on how well the surrogates are screened, counseled, cared for, etc. This does raise the question of cheaper outsourcing - but you know, they have a lot of babies in India, health care is cheaper, doctors are well educated. So if THAT resource is already there, why not recruit surrogates from the women who really need the money, and are less likely to have involvement after the birth?

You just may have a better pool of surrogates there, I don't know for sure, but it just might be true.

[swt1899]

There was a woman here in Houston about 10 years ago who put up a bill board advertising her womb for rent. Everyone was in such an uproar about it they eventually took the sign down.
I was adopted because my mother could not have children. She refused to do fertility treatments or medications. Too much stress and weight bearing down on it all so my parents decided to adopt.
My DH and I, before we got pregnant, discussed this and I had the same mind set. There are so many children out there who do not have homes so adoption would have been the choice we would have made if we could not get pregnant naturally.
I know other women think otherwise and that is fine. Surragacy is a choice that three people have to make.
We wanted as little stress as possible with pregnancy and/or adoption.

[dhilbert]

i am adopted and feal both ways, I would be a surrogate, but only for a close friend, i couldnt do it for a stranger cus there would be no way to know if i was giving a child to an abusive family, there is not alot of screening to get a child by surrogate but there is for adoption, and there are many children, here in our country who need homes, if we could not have had kids naturally, we would have adopted, but here not overseas, i am very against international adoption by american families because of the high number of children here who need homes!

[LeanyBean]

I think surrogacy is a great thing. I nearly did it before I had my own kids. The deal I would have had was all my medical expenses paid plus 100/wk cash. Besides it was for a family friend~a former teacher of mine as well as one of my mom's best friends from school. But before Cam and her hubby made a final decision on who would be their surrogate I wound up pregnant with my first.

I would still consider being a surrogate for family or friends. I'm still young and definite built to be a breeder. 4 kids in a decade without help of fertility treatments kind of proves that. I would just have to tell them to cover all the medical expenses and they'd have a deal. Anything on top of that would be purely up to them.

Surrogacy for complete strangers would have to come with quite a perks package for me to consider it. It is a great idea, though. Kudos to the women who rent out their wombs for such a cause.

[jadis]

I am all for surrogacy- but I think taking advantage of a woman in India to be your surrogate is morally reprehensible. People do it because it's cheaper for them amd there is less chance of them saying that they want to keep the babies afterwards (since many of the women who "decide" to be surrogates do so because they are very poor). Being "forced" to sell your body so that you are able to feed your family isn't much of a real choice IMO- all so that a priviledged family halfway around the world can save some $$.

I am actually very interested in being a gestational surrogate. After the morning sickness ended, I really did enjoy being pregnant and miss it now- and I do think that eventually I'll get to the point where I'm ready to be pregnant again, but don't necessarily want another child. I have actually found an organization that works with women who want to be surrogates, but not with their own eggs (I would do one or the other- donate eggs, or carry the child- carrying a child that was genetically mine would be too much for me). In Canada, it's actually illegal to pay a surrogate- which means that there is a very small pool of women who are willing to be a surrogate for a stranger. Also, legally it can be tricky, as the gestational surrogate also has a legal claim towards the child.

So, that's my spiel.....surrogacy = good. Surrogacy via taking advantage of impoverished women half a world away = bad.

[MissyChrissy]

As long as those women are willing, I don't see the problem with it.

[pattiewrites]

Here in the US, the laws vary from state to state. Some have no statutes for gestational surrogacy. In the states where there are laws or statues for gestational surrogacy, the surrogate has no legal claim to the baby at all, since it it not her child. I agree that having impoverished women carry babies doesn't seem like much of a choice.

As long as it is a mutually agreeable situation, I don't really have a problem with surrogacy in general. I don't have a problem with international adoption either. We would have gone that route, if we hadn't conceived. Adoption in the US turns me off. I've known too many people who shelled out huge $$$$$ to birth mothers, only to end up not getting a baby and of course having no recourse for recouping the money they put out for nine months of medical care. My SIL had a friend that went through this THREE times with three different women. She was bilked out of a grand total of $35,000 by these women and no baby. (basically most of her life's savings). Yes, some legitimately change their mind, but some see it as a way to free health care and rent for the pregnancy. It seems like baby selling to me, so I wasn't going to go there! I think these sleazy situations and problems with US adoption laws are a big reason so many couples are seeking international adoptions.

To each his own! I think every family needs to make the call for what is right for them, as long as no one is being abused or taken advantage of.

[swt1899]

Originally Posted by dhilbert

i am adopted and feal both ways, I would be a surrogate, but only for a close friend, i couldnt do it for a stranger cus there would be no way to know if i was giving a child to an abusive family, there is not alot of screening to get a child by surrogate but there is for adoption, and there are many children, here in our country who need homes, if we could not have had kids naturally, we would have adopted, but here not overseas, i am very against international adoption by american families because of the high number of children here who need homes!

I agree with you. I was adopted too here in Texas. When I went through counseling to meet my birthmother a few years back I made that decision as I saw soooo many babies awaiting at an adoption agency in Austin, TX. It was sad and I hoped and prayed they all found homes. My father was in an orphanage and was adopted at age 4. I would hate for any child to be in that situation... unwanted.