The Advantages and Disadvantages of Surrogacy

The human race can only survive if it continues to reproduce. However, should this reproduction be through “natural” means? What about couples who are not able to have children? In an instant, a couple’s dream of having a family, and raising children, can be shattered, not through any fault of their own. Surrogacy provides a glimmer of hope for such couples. Surrogacy is a bioethical issue in which many ethical and moral questions are raised as a result of advances in medicine and technology. Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman (called a surrogate mother) bears a child for other people or couples who are unable to have children. It involves usage of latest technologies such as in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer and artificial insemination. Although surrogacy is “raising eyebrows” all over the world, it advocates for the betterment of mankind.

The first argument against surrogacy is the “selling and buying of babies” notion in commercial surrogacy. A controversial question surrogacy raises is “Are we selling babies??” Paying a woman in exchange for surrogacy services ineludibly transforms surrogacy into a commercial trade. Only non-commercial surrogacy is allowed in Australia, Greece, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Commercial surrogacy is legal in some countries such as Armenia, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and some states in America. (Schenker, 2011). In the 1990’s, the typical fee was $10,000 to $12,000. At present times, the standard fee for first time surrogate mothers would range from $14,000 to $18,000 (Watson, 2007). Commercial surrogacy leads to the commodification of babies. A child is normally the end goal in a pregnancy. However, the child becomes a means for earning money for surrogate mothers. When the child becomes a means, the child is commoditized. In the book, ‘Surrogate Motherhood: International Perspectives’, Cook, Sclater and Kaganas argued that “some feminists maintain that surrogacy commodifies women’s reproductive...