Is it ethical to outsource pregnancy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have any medical reason to do so. I just don’t want to be pregnant again, gain weight and have to try to lose it again. have my body change permanently, give birth etc.

And I can easily afford a surrogate.

Would you do it in my situation?

No. Pregnancy is the relatively “easy” part of parenting.

[Anonymous]

I would do it. I'm currently pregnant and it has been difficult for a number of reasons (health issues, baby issues, anxiety). I don't think I can do it again and would consider surrogacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know. I'm not an ethicist but the OP's question did give me pause. I listen to this podcast called Rough Translation by NPR. One episode was about an international surrogacy. They profiled a surrogate from the US who gave birth for parents from China. They did another podcast with an update a year or two later. I'm sure I'm not getting all of the details exactly correct but there was something about the birth father's DNA that did something to the surrogate's body that caused problems during the pregnancy but also longer-lasting impacts on the surrogate's health. It made me think compensation should be more expansive and brought all of these questions to my mind about the ethics of it all.

You should listen to the 2020 update! https://www.npr.org/transcripts/847466191

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Babies start to bond with their mothers in the womb. So no.

You don’t support adoption?

NP here, and an adoptive parent.

I support adoption as a solution to a problem, which is children who don't have the option of staying with their families (in my child's case his parents died). I think it can be a wonderful solution in tragic circumstances, and adoptive families can help kids overcome some of the challenges that come from the original tragedy.

But that doesn't mean I think it should be a first choice for any child.

So. It’s still true your child bonded with their mother in the womb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know. I'm not an ethicist but the OP's question did give me pause. I listen to this podcast called Rough Translation by NPR. One episode was about an international surrogacy. They profiled a surrogate from the US who gave birth for parents from China. They did another podcast with an update a year or two later. I'm sure I'm not getting all of the details exactly correct but there was something about the birth father's DNA that did something to the surrogate's body that caused problems during the pregnancy but also longer-lasting impacts on the surrogate's health. It made me think compensation should be more expansive and brought all of these questions to my mind about the ethics of it all.

Depending on the state (and the surrogate is free to move while pregnant), they can deliver, keep the child, and go after the father for child support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you pay a good wage for all the pregnancy hours.

$20/hr for every hour pregnant is ~ $130K.

Plus a bonus for child birth and more if they pump.

If you pay -$200K I’m cool with it.

Not that anyone cares if you're "cool" with it, but the average cost of a surrogate is $125-$150k. Nobody is going to pay $200k because they feel like it.

[Anonymous]

I worked in a surrogacy clinic and I recommend avoiding the entire industry. There's a lot of darkness and unregulated crime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t have any medical reason to do so. I just don’t want to be pregnant again, gain weight and have to try to lose it again. have my body change permanently, give birth etc.

And I can easily afford a surrogate.

Would you do it in my situation?

It is immoral and you are amoral. If I were your husband, I would divorce you and get 100% custody of children and never allow you to see them again

In what way, exactly, is it immoral? Because you said so? I think I'd like to hear something a bit more concise.

[Anonymous]

People are so effing crazy, as evidenced by this thread.

As others have said, if the surrogate is willing and not coerced and you compensate well then of course this is ethical. People die doing construction work all the time but no one questions the ethics of hiring a crew to build you something.

If everyone involved has free will and is being treated well, then all the consenting adults are making their own choices and everything is, IMO, fully ethical.

[Anonymous]

Another woman’s body is for sale.

Celebrate??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Babies start to bond with their mothers in the womb. So no.

You don’t support adoption?

NP here, and an adoptive parent.

I support adoption as a solution to a problem, which is children who don't have the option of staying with their families (in my child's case his parents died). I think it can be a wonderful solution in tragic circumstances, and adoptive families can help kids overcome some of the challenges that come from the original tragedy.

But that doesn't mean I think it should be a first choice for any child.

So. It’s still true your child bonded with their mother in the womb.

Yes, I thought it was obvious I was agreeing with the top poster that babies bond in the womb, and that saying so doesn't mean I don't "support adoption".

My child was 4 when he lost his first parents so he bonded with them outside the womb too. I'm really glad we were able to adopt him. I think that permanency is really important for kids, and it helped us bond. So, I would say I support adoption. That doesn't negate his powerful bond with his first mom, and we did bond, that doesn't mean I think people should intentionally create situations where 4 year olds need new parents, or deny that there was a bond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Another woman’s body is for sale.

Celebrate??

If you’re opposed to the fact that this is essentially a woman selling her body, do you hold the same opposition when a gay couple uses a surrogate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are so effing crazy, as evidenced by this thread.

As others have said, if the surrogate is willing and not coerced and you compensate well then of course this is ethical. People die doing construction work all the time but no one questions the ethics of hiring a crew to build you something.

If everyone involved has free will and is being treated well, then all the consenting adults are making their own choices and everything is, IMO, fully ethical.

Then why can't you buy organs from people? It's actually less risky to have part of your liver removed or a kidney fully removed than pregnancy and childbirth. Answer: it's exploitation of the bodies of other humans. We can't use the poor for organ farms and we shouldn't use them as womb rentals.

And paying a lot does not equal making things ethically OK. I have a bunch of money so I want to shoot endangered animals. Is that morally OK if I pay the animals' owners well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Another woman’s body is for sale.

Celebrate??

If you’re opposed to the fact that this is essentially a woman selling her body, do you hold the same opposition when a gay couple uses a surrogate?

Why would it matter who the buyer is?
Some women will always feel forced into selling her body, due to poverty or other tragic circumstances.

What parent wants their daughter to aspire to renting out her uterus and giving up a newborn? You should talk to some birth mothers who needed to give up their babies for adoption. They’ll always be wondering how their child is doing. You never forget the baby you nurtured for nine months. That baby is part of you, even if the baby was implanted. Healthy and financially stable women will not sign up to become a surrogate, neither will your own daughter. Right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are so effing crazy, as evidenced by this thread.

As others have said, if the surrogate is willing and not coerced and you compensate well then of course this is ethical. People die doing construction work all the time but no one questions the ethics of hiring a crew to build you something.

If everyone involved has free will and is being treated well, then all the consenting adults are making their own choices and everything is, IMO, fully ethical.

Then why can't you buy organs from people? It's actually less risky to have part of your liver removed or a kidney fully removed than pregnancy and childbirth. Answer: it's exploitation of the bodies of other humans. We can't use the poor for organ farms and we shouldn't use them as womb rentals.

And paying a lot does not equal making things ethically OK. I have a bunch of money so I want to shoot endangered animals. Is that morally OK if I pay the animals' owners well?

So if you pay a rich woman to have your baby and don't help any poor person your choice becomes ethically pure? Organ donation ethics are very complicated honestly. It isn't as easy as saying one thing is right and one thing is wrong. And of course your animal analogy makes no sense because the harmed party there (animals) is not a consenting being.