In Vitro Fertilization Is Ethical

According to the Issues & Controversies Infobase, “Surrogate” is a term that refers to a substitute, a person, place, or thing employed to represent or take the place of another. This term is commonly referred to a woman who agrees to carry another couple’s child in her womb. After birth, the surrogate mother parts with the baby and the child goes on to live with the parents in which she carried the baby for. This practice of surrogacy was widely unaccepted, however, the recent development of artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization has made surrogacy more feasible and accepted. This Issues & Controversies article shines a light on both the pro and anti sides of surrogacy and the facts to back up each side.

Baby Business by Insight on SBS had a discussion about surrogacy in relation to a couple that had a baby though surrogacy. In the show it was said that most surrogate mothers have genetically babies, which the mother gives her egg and the father gives his sperm and the doctor inseminates it in the surrogate mother. Most of the everyday people have to the term “renting a womb” towards surrogacy whereas the Women Health Resources

There are four types of surrogacy. First is the traditional, or formally known as genetic surrogacy. Genetic surrogacy is when the carrier donates both her eggs and her womb. With this route, there are many legal issues that the parents could face. Under the law, the carrier is the mother of the child. It is also unethical and illegal, according to the 13th amendment, to hand over the custody of a child for money. Also, against the 13th amendment, there is a forced separation of mother and child in this situation. One of the biggest risk that parents take with this type of surrogate mother, is that the mother is allowed to decide to keep the baby and they can do nothing about it. The surrogate mother, by law, is allowed to keep this baby because it is her egg which means that it is biologically her child.

When one or more persons contract with a woman to gestate a child than relinquish that child after birth to the person or couple is known as surrogacy. It is a course of action that goes outside of natural reproduction. For some, it is the only method of having children, extending family. Surrogacy has been stirring up many controversies over the years. Ethics, morals, laws, religious views, etc. have played a major role in the issues that follow the topic of surrogacy. Laws and regulations pertaining to surrogacy vary from state to state. Some states have no enforceable laws

Surrogate motherhood is considered the most controversial form of medically assisted conception. Surrogacy is defined as an arrangement by which a woman gives birth to a baby on behalf of a woman who is incapable of conceiving babies herself or is infertile. The issue of surrogacy has been running for almost three decades. Elizabeth Cane was the first woman in the United States to legally become a surrogate mother in 1980 (Chittom and Wagner). Surrogate births are illegal in many countries, including some states in the United States. For example, it is illegal in Michigan, Washington, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and New York, whereas it legal in California, Oregon, Texas, and Arkansas (Chittom and Wagner). According to the Organization of Parents Through Surrogacy (OPTS), about 22,000 babies have been born from surrogate mothers in the United States since surrogacy became legal in the 1970s (Chittom and Wagner).

Law reform is considered proactive with relation to surrogacy and birth technologies, as methods of conception must be permitted before they are conducted. Surrogacy, which occurs when one woman agrees to fall pregnant and bear a child for a couple, is illegal in NSW when the woman is paid a fee or award, under the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2007 (NSW). Hence, surrogacy must be altruistic. Furthermore, the Surrogacy Act 2010 (NSW) now criminalises an international journey for commercial surrogacy.

Surrogate mothers have been the topic of many controversies, regarding how ethical it is. As many know surrogate mothers are women who bear a child for another woman (Surrogacy: the experiences of surrogate mothers, 2196-2204). There has been many sides to this argument, deciding whether it was ethical or unethical. Some people have chosen to support this type of medical practice, while others have shun it away completely arguing against it’s inhumane ways.

In her article on surrogate pregnancy, Bonnie Steinbock takes the stance that surrogate pregnancy not be illegal but that someone needs to set rules and regulate it in a way that is more beneficial than potentially harmful. She believes that well-regulated surrogacy should be the outcome of the rare cases that have occurred in surrogacy, such as the Baby M Case. Steinbock is against restricting individual’s freedom, decisions, and actions, as well as acting paternalistically. She reasons that surrogacy does not result in exploitation, loss of human dignity, or harm to others; therefore, it need not be prohibited.

Adopting a child can help save someone in need. Most kids in foster homes were either abandoned or brought to this world by parents who weren’t financially stable yet. Although many complications can also occur with surrogates, in Vancouver a woman who agreed on having a baby to an infertile friend is suing the clinic because she claims that one of her donated eggs was used to implant and help impregnate her friend without her consent (Rankin, 2017). In, “Another Woman gave birth to my child’: surrogate sues fertility clinic” explains how surrogates cannot be paid for their services. The woman whose name isn’t described gave up her rights but feels as the clinic did her wrong. She explains how betrayed to have to mentally go through a situation where someone can be betrayed for using someone’s eggs without consent. IVF can be used for multiple pregnancies and as long as doctors have approval can do whatever they want. In the woman’s case, she did not give any consent, therefore, made the process of the IVF to go even further into the court where she wants to file charges against the court. If the process was to be done without any consent this would have been a situation of Malpractice where the surgeons feel its right to go on with the procedure without the woman’s full

A womb for rent by Ellen Goodman is a good read. The author wrote about the practices of surrogates in third world countries and the united states. She explains that even though the U.S. supports surrogates, other countries like India supports it as well but not just because some women can't have kids, but so that they can have income and other things.

Under s.60 of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, an individual “(a) is liable, on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or to both; or (b) is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years, or to both” for not complying with the guidelines set out regarding the duties of the reproduction of a child. A surrogate mother is defined as a woman who carries a fetus conceived through an assisted reproduction procedure which is derived from the genes of a donor or donors, and with the intent of surrendering such child at the time of birth (AHRA, 2004). However, there is still ambiguity felt between surrogates and parents related to what the law sets out as their legal duties in conceiving a child, and this is also pertinent in relation to the context of a working contract. Having said that, this essay aims at addressing the unclarity, pointing to the main arguments in favor of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, and how the decision was aimed to safeguard the rights of those involved; including the child, and to prevent culpability issues within the health sector and many others linked to the overall process.

On the flipside on the issue, can it not also be viewed that allowing these women to do as they see fit with their bodies as economic empowerment? The money provided to these women can used for various financial means outside of taking care of medical heath care for themselves and the child. The amount provided to each female varies depending on what she and the couple feel is sufficient, therefore any extra monetary compensation can used to help the women relieve themselves from other debts. Autonomy does provide the right that women get to choose their reproductive rights and that includes bearing children for those who cannot do so or for monetary stability. Suggesting that surrogacy dehumanizes her is another form of paternalism. Paternalism limits one’s autonomy for their own good (Pozgar, 2012).

Surrogacy is arrangement in which a woman is hired to carry and give birth to a child who will then be given to another couple or person. The child is usually related to the birth mother, but in some cases, may be related to the surrogate mother. Maria Trimarchi (2008) from a health article on infertility, informs readers of the “two types of surrogacy: traditional and gestational”. With traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother 's egg is utilized and then fertilized and this makes her the genetic mother of the child. In gestational surrogacy, the egg is provided by the intended mother or a donor (Trimarchi, 2008). The egg is fertilized through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and then placed inside the surrogate mother (Cheung, 2014).

Surrogate Motherhood is something that not many people actually support, even though it “is one of the many reproductive techniques that have enabled infertile couples to have children” (qtd. in Freedman). There are two types of surrogacy, traditional and gestational. The traditional type of surrogacy involves the surrogate mother being (AI) artificially inseminated with the sperm of the intended father or sperm from a donor when the sperm count is low. In either case the surrogate’s own egg will be used. Genetically the surrogate becomes the mother of the resulting child (Storey). Although there are two different types of surrogacy, a traditional surrogacy is rarely seen or done anymore. In gestational surrogacy, the surrogate mother has

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” With these words, Socrates stated the creed of reflective men and women and set the task for ethics: to seek, with the help of reason, a consistent and defensible approach to life and its moral dilemmas (Walters 22). Ethical inquiry is important to us when we are unsure of the direction in which we are heading. “New philosophy calls all in doubt,” wrote John Donne in the wake of the Copernican Revolution and of Charles I’s violent death, suggesting that new thoughts had challenged old practices (Donne). Today, new practices in the biomedical sciences are challenging old thoughts: “New medicine calls all in doubt” (Walters 22).