Redefining Kinship Through Technology ( Ivf ) And Gestational Surrogacy Essay

Purdy defends surrogate mothering from a consequentialist point of view. Her case is founded on two premises: firstly, that surrogacy is favourable (that is, it brings about pleasure and reduces pain), and secondly, that the practice is only non-traditional and not morally reprehensible. She thus concludes that "appealing to the sacrosanctity of traditional marriage or of blood ties to prohibit otherwise acceptable practices that would satisfy people 's desires hardly makes sense", and thus, surrogacy should be permissible (Purdy, 1999).

In the context of classical Marxism, the moral permissibility of surrogate motherhood is forcefully negated. Marxism condemns the practice of surrogacy as an exemplification of commodity fetishism in capitalist society, viewing surrogacy arrangements as a commercialization of the female womb. The term, “commodification of the womb,” thus arises to describe the process by which services carried out by the female womb are sold and purchased on the market. Through such transactions, the surrogate’s body and the infant it produces are transformed from subjects to objects that have both exchange value and use value in their commodified state.

More analyses of AID within the context of Jewish law show that the greatest anxiety concerning AID is the possibility of inadvertent incest. Since the resulting child would not know their biological father, it might unwittingly couple with a half-sibling. This would be especially problematic within more close-knit communities. Thus, for many this concern largely overshadows the concerns about adultery. As R. Moses Feinstein states: “that is the sole concern...the procedure neither entails adultery nor produces a mamzer, both of which require actual intercourse.” Although there are were some strong dissention to this ruling, it is key to note that attitudes towards reproductive technology can be used as a gage to assess attitudes towards

Access to reproductive technologies and genetic testing challenges traditional notions of ancestry and kinship. The understanding of family and identity is often linked to genetics and biology; however the growing industry of assisted reproduction raises questions of relations for parents/ children and others who are involved in creating the child and or raising the child. Individuals who are genetically linked like donor siblings have similarities in their psychology and in their social and moral understanding of society. For instance in the presentation that was done by the group donor siblings, we watch a video that was called, “Kids of Donor 5114”, which showed similar traits among the children aside from physical features. The kids discussed

Jeffrey Bennett (2009) has conducted research on the conflation of blood and identity, lending support to challenging the claims of monomaternalism. Blood is universally understood as a marker of kinship, to describe relational ties, and the significance of those ties (Bennett 2009; Freeman and Richardson 2006; Ryan-Flood 2009). Western understandings of kinship are structured around these blood relations, but also marriage and patrilineal dissent (Freeman and Richardson 2006; Ryan-Flood 2009). In a broader discussion regarding feminism and mothering, though one which certainly applies to this idea, Kinser (2010) suggests that thinking of kinship and its legitimacy in binary terms oversimplifies relations, missing multiple

Surrogacy the compassionate act of carrying a baby for those who are unable to carry a child has turned into has turned into and business model of exploitation similar to sex slaves. While surrogacy is intended to help people who can’t have kids, there high chance of being used for human trafficking. Surrogacy women who volunteer to carry a baby to term for a woman who can’t carry a baby or is not fertile. While many women volunteer to do this in attempt to help themselves from a financial situation or help a family in need. There are also indications that some women are forced to become surrogates or exploited in the same manner that women that are forced prostitution. Human trafficking is a global issue as well as surrogacy, while one forces labor and prostitution the other exploits impoverished women. The concerns of exploitation is one of the cores of the fight against human trafficking and predatory business people are using legal loop holes to operate human trafficking rings. The ideal of surrogacy is well intentioned and helpful to desperate people, but there is are unattended consequences to the unregulated international policies that allows women to be used as baby factories which destroys the beautiful process of creating a baby. Even though Surrogate mothers are in financial distress and need the money to provide for their families, surrogacy is wrong due to its high potential for human trafficking. Because women can be forced and some are forced

Reproductive technology has come a long way in the last twenty years and continues to make expansive advances. The question "where do babies come from" is becoming harder and harder to answer. The response used to sound something like "when a man and a woman love each other very much…" now with in vitro fertilization, fertility drugs, and sperm/egg donors as well as future advances the answer will take on a new twist "…they go to see a doctor and look through a catalog to pick what kind of baby they want."

Gestational surrogacy is where the surrogate is a woman who carries and delivers a baby for someone else. The surrogate is not related to the baby in any way. The intended parents are usually the egg and the sperm donor; they are very involved throughout the whole pregnancy. They are very involved with the pregnancy and they are even there with the baby is born. “In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a necessary part of the arrangement because eggs from one woman are used to create and embryo implanted in the surrogate woman.”2 Another form of surrogacy is traditional surrogacy, “In which the surrogate either undergoes artificial insemination or IVF with sperm from the male or from a sperm donor. The surrogate herself provides the eggs and is therefore genetically related to the child.”3 After the surrogate has the baby the intended parents then take the child as their own and often the surrogate is still somewhat involved in the child’s

Gestational surrogacy is when a woman, referred to as a surrogate, is pregnant with and gives birth to a baby that is not genetically related to her. A gestational surrogacy usually takes place when a couple is unable to get pregnant and or carry a baby. In most cases it is because a woman has an unhealthy or nonexistent uterus. Gestational surrogacy is also some times used by gay couples who want to start a family. The pregnancy is created with a medical procedure called in vitro fertilization where fertilized eggs are transferred into the surrogate’s uterus using a needle. The entire gestational surrogacy process is usually handled by a surrogacy agency. They handle everything from finding a

It is said that, the basic principle of such tradition is that humans communicate through symbols, which are a common currency through which a sense of self is created through interaction with others. Mead's theory neatly avoids the trap of positing a sense of self that is constructed entirely through symbols and society by making a distinction between two different selves: "I" which is the unsocialized self; the font of individual desires and needs, and "me," the socialized self, the self within society. (p. 184) Elliot rightly identifies the flaws of symbolic interactionism: namely, the obsession with rationalism and the wholesale disavowal of the emotional aspects of the self. The

There are many ethical considerations and implications when it comes to surrogacy. Questions arise of what is right and what is not, especially when it comes to the child. There has been a positive “compassionate” case when it comes to surrogacy in the situation that a 48-year-old grandmother carried triplets for her daughter who was unable to bear children due to infertility issues. While other dilemmas arise such as potential court battles over custody of a child conceived outside of marriage, reducing birth to a legal arrangement for the exchange of money, and future emotional distress of the child when learned they were taken away from their biological mother. As well as embarrassment for the surrogate mother whose actions some people have likened to prostitution and harm to the surrogate mother’s own children when they learn she has given one child away and have received money in return (Textbook). There are also many ethical implications in the surrogacy process. Ethical issues arise with the question of the involvement of the surrogate mother and with the identity of the child. The surrogate mother will most likely not be the child’s primary caretaker and legal questions could

Surrogates are defined as a “women who gestates a fetus for others, usually for a couple or another woman.”(Vaughn, 398) Surrogates have a few types of surrogacy, which are traditional and gestational surrogacy. Traditional surrogacy is defined as the “sperm from either the couple’s male partner or a donor is used to artificially inseminate the surrogate (the “surrogate mother”). (Vaughn, 398) Then there is Gestational surrogacy, which is defined as “the surrogate receives a transferred embryo created through IVF using the sperm and egg of others (the contracting couple of donors). Because the gestational (also called the gestational carrier) does not contribute her own egg, she has no genetic connection to the baby.” (Vaughn, 398) In

Surrogate Motherhood: Good or Bad?      There are many controversies surrounding the idea of surrogate motherhood, by its definition, it is a course of action that goes outside natural reproduction. Although surrogacy was first brought up in the bible it is only until recently that it has actually become an issue for criticism and debate. Factors such as the growth of infertility in modern society, coupled with the declining number of children available for adoption, and the development of surrogacy contract and commercial surrogacy agencies in 1976, have resulted in increasing publicity and public interest in the formation of agreements between infertile couples and surrogate mothers (Stuhmcke, 3). Surrogate

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).

When I think of indentured servitude, I view it in a negative context. To be indentured means “to be forced to work by some contract.” (Indentured - Dictionary Definition) While surrogacy involves signing a contract, I think it is situationally dependent when deciding if it is considered a form of indentured servitude. It is a complex topic, but I personally believe deeming the act a form of indentured servitude largely depends on the intentions behind using surrogacy in the first place, and how the surrogate mother is treated. I associate someone being “indentured” with someone being burdened. Therefore, if the surrogate is treated improperly but still being paid, I would consider that a form of indentured servitude.