I've written quite a bit about non-traditional familes. An opinion piece in today's New York Times made me far more aware about surrogacy issues. This is not something that would ever have occurred to me. I'm not saying it's terrible. To me, it is very thought-provoking in this day and age of increasing numbers of non-traditional families.
In Sunday's New York Times, Susan Straight wrote about her neighbor for whom surrogacy is a way of helping her family pay day-to-day bills. Straight wrote:
[My neighbor C] had just stopped pumping breast milk for the last baby she delivered, who belonged to a wealthy couple in another state. She had to drive 45 miles every day back to the hospital with an ice chest because, she said, “They bought the milk, too.”
"Still, she felt terrible by the fifth month. Two of the triplets had not been viable, as the doctors put it. My daughter and I stared at her belly, imagining the two fetuses being absorbed back into C’s body while their sister thrived. She made $30,000 for the first baby and $50,000 for the second one; if she delivered this girl, she would get $35,000."
Thought-provoking. Imagine those people who want to be parents and who cannot do it on their own. Imagine the various methods of ART or IVF. Imagine that they are lucky enough to afford to pay someone who will take special care to bear their dream children. It's just not an Ozzie and Harriet world anymore.
Making Babies, Just to Make Ends Meet, New York Times, Susan Straight, November 3, 2012
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