Sunday, July 6, 2014

Sunday Globe Special: U.S. Surrogacy Surge

Think of it as reverse immigration:

"Many coming to US for a baby; Surrogacy illegal in most of world" by Tamar Lewin | New York Times   July 06, 2014

While babies through surrogacy have become increasingly common in the United States, with celebrities like Elton John, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jimmy Fallon openly discussing how they started a family, the situation is quite different in Portugal — as it is in most of the world where the hiring of a woman to carry a child is forbidden.

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In an era of globalization, the market for children crosses national borders; witness the longtime flow of Americans who have gone overseas to adopt babies from South Korea, China, Russia, and Guatemala.

Other than the United States, only a few countries — among them India, Thailand, Ukraine, and Mexico — allow paid surrogacy. As a result, there is an increasing flow in the opposite direction, with the United States drawing affluent couples from Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Many large surrogacy agencies in the United States say international clients — gay, straight, married or single — provide the bulk of their business.

The traffic highlights a divide between the United States and much of the world over fundamental questions about what constitutes a family, who is considered a legal parent, who is eligible for citizenship and whether paid childbirth is a service or exploitation.

In many nations, a situation that splits motherhood between the biological mother and a surrogate carrier is widely believed to be against the child’s best interests. And even more so when three women are involved: the genetic mother, whose egg is used; the mother who carries the baby; and the one who commissioned and will raise the child.

Many countries forbid advertising foreign or domestic surrogacy services and allow only what is known as altruistic surrogacy, in which the woman carrying the baby receives payment only for her expenses.

Those countries abhor what they call the commercialization of baby making and view commercial surrogacy as inherently exploitive of poor women.

But while many states, including New York, ban surrogacy, others, like California, welcome it as a legitimate business. Together, domestic and international couples will have more than 2,000 babies through gestational surrogacy in the United States this year, almost three times as many as a decade ago.

Ads galore seek egg donors, would-be parents, would-be surrogates. Many surrogates and intended parents find each other on the Internet and make their arrangements independently, sometimes without a lawyer or a formal contract.

The agencies that match intended parents and surrogates are unregulated, creating a marketplace where vulnerable clients yearning for a baby can be preyed upon by the unscrupulous or incompetent.

So the whole point of this agenda-pushing article for the elite is regulation needed?

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The hook for the story is a a gay couple? 

Does the agenda-pushing ever stop for anything?

Once all the glowing positives peeled away I began thinking how such operations can be open to massive fraud and human trafficking. All legal, of course, so no problem. 

I'm sorry my surge has stalled for the day, readers. Good night.

NEXT DAY UPDATE:

"Teen parents find inspiration, kinship in shared stories; Brigham hospital program holsters teens’ prospects" by James Sullivan | Globe Correspondent   July 07, 2014

When Jakira Gibbs became pregnant in high school, she had the support of family, friends, and her boyfriend in her decision to have the baby, a daughter. Now, at 21, Gibbs is reaching out to help other young parents who might not be so fortunate.

Gibbs, who is set to graduate from Bunker Hill Community College and continue her studies in human services, has been volunteering for Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s program for teen parents, where she has found solidarity. And she is expressing her gratitude — and her determination not to lose sight of her own ambitions — by contributing a moving essay to “Growing Together,” an annual anthology of young parents’ creativity, produced each year for a Boston summit that connects teen parents with the social services that will help them thrive....

That's when I stopped taking STEPS, sorry.

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