#Surrogacy is exploitative

[coochiequeens]

While pregnancy and childbirth continues to have the risk of complications and there are children without families Yes I will judge people who use surrogates.

Not your baby? Not your business. In this era of social media, celebrity birth announcements are typically met with celebration and well wishes for the family. But when additional details about the birth are revealed, commenters are quick to pass judgment — especially where surrogacy is involved. We saw this firsthand back in January, when Lily Collins and Charlie McDowell announced the birth of their daughter Tove, making sure to thank their "incredible surrogate" in a joint Instagram post. While some followers passed along their congratulations, others fixated on the couple's decision to use a surrogate, speculating about their reasoning and describing their choice as "disappointing" and even exploitative.

After scrolling through dozens of misinformed assumptions and hateful messages, our honest reaction is . . . are we really still doing this? But criticizing women for their surrogacy decisions is nothing new. (Remember the backlash Priyanka Chopra faced?) In January 2024, Pope Francis also sparked discussion after calling for a global surrogacy ban. He described surrogacy as "a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child," but in reality, there are a myriad of "dignified" reasons why someone might choose to use a surrogate — none of which should have to be explained to others.

Within the LGBTQ+ community, for instance, surrogacy can help couples build their family and establish a genetic connection to their child. People might also choose to use a surrogate for medical reasons, like fertility issues or health conditions that could lead to a high-risk pregnancy. Such was the case for Olivia Munn, who recently opened up about her own surrogacy experience in an April interview with Self.

"I needed to go this route," Munn said in reference to surrogacy, explaining that her "aggressive" breast cancer treatment ultimately put her in surgical menopause. "It wasn't for superficial reasons or because I wanted to put my work first," Munn said. "I'm not saying that any of those reasons aren't valid for those people. And I'm not judging anyone who makes those decisions based on that, but I needed [my surrogate] to understand this would be hard for me."

While there are people who decide to use a surrogate based on their personal preferences (which is also completely valid), surrogacy is most often used to help those who might not be able to carry a child or give birth on their own. That's not to mention the actual surrogates who've shared their positive experiences, saying they enjoy being able to help families. So why are we still so quick to judge?

McDowell said it best in his response to the trolls on social media: "In regards to the unkind messages about surrogacy and our path to having a baby— it's ok to not be an expert on surrogacy," he wrote. "It's ok to not know why someone might need a surrogate to have a child. It's ok to not know the motivations of a surrogate regardless of what you assume. And it's ok to spend less time spewing hateful words into the world, especially in regards to a beautiful baby girl who has brought a lot of love into people's lives." We couldn't agree more. So the next time you see someone welcoming a baby into the world (via surrogacy or otherwise) — just stick to congratulations.

By referring to the LGBTQ+ the author implied that being being anti surrogacy would be hareful. But of the TQ+ communities it's only gay men who would be impacted. Lesbians would just need a sperm donor. Spicy straights with bad haircuts should be able to have kids. So she's using the whole TQ+ has a shield for men who want to have biological kids.

[eve-was-framed]

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

“A prominent surrogacy agency in Europe is under investigation following accusations that its pedophile owner sexually assaulted an employee. José María Hill Prados, 63, is being accused of forcing a young employee to perform sexual acts as part of his employment with Gestlife

Gestlife is one of the largest surrogacy firms in Europe, operating offices in 11 countries dedicated to facilitating child exchange contracts. On its site, it boasts that it has helped “2100 children be born,” and that over 55% of its clientele are “LGBTQIA+ couples.” But authorities in Barcelona are now investigating the company after an employee came forward to accuse the owner of sexual assault.”

[misandresther]

It's funny how #they think a woman is a feeling and whatnot, till it's time for #them to exploit one as a surrogate. Then everyone seems to know and realizes who are the actual women.

[erebusvincent]

Once one woman is available for purchase, all women are potential purchases-just as with prostitution.

[trexalicious]

What was once an understandable reflection on a tragic loss has now become a repetitive, almost manipulative, strategy to elicit sympathy and deflect criticism...

[prolifeproliberty]

(Babylon Bee)

[barbiegirldream]

Every single anti surrogacy post is just "god how dare you rent that inanimate womb like that fuck you" as if the entire person attached the womb has no say and is in fact a car at a rental shop

[coochiequeens]

Internatioal Surrogacy is human trafficking of babies and the women used to create them.

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration has intercepted a woman who was lured into becoming a surrogate mother.

Immigration officials intercepted the 34-year-old woman at the airport on January 15 as she attempted to board a Turkish Airlines flight to Cyprus. There she was allegedly scheduled to undergo an in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure.

Though she initially claimed to be traveling alone for leisure, immigration officers flagged her case after she inadvertently presented an IVF clinic invitation that contradicted her stated purpose of travel.

Further investigation revealed that the woman had agreed to serve as a surrogate mother for someone she met through a dating app, with promises of a P300,000 payment after giving birth.

In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Joel Viado warned that such schemes continue to proliferate, noting an increase in online advertisements for surrogacy and IVF-related services where victims are often pressured to comply with specific laboratory requirements.

"We warn females not to be tempted to agree to such schemes as this is a clear form of trafficking," Viado said.

The victim has been referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance.

[haggishlyhagging]

Another fundamental principle operating in the defense of technological reproduction is that persons have a biological need to reproduce. Terms like genetic continuity, biological fulfillment, reproductive imperative, and maternal instinct mystify motherhood and fatherhood, detracting from our ability to recognize them as personal and social relationships. When male claims to children are asserted, as in surrogacy disputes, we hear about men's right to genetic "fulfillment." When new technological procedures are launched for public acceptance, we hear about "women's natural need" to reproduce. Patrick Steptoe, lab parent of the world's first IVF baby, asserted, "It is a fact that there is a biological drive to reproduce. Women who deny this drive, or in whom it is frustrated, show disturbances in other ways."

What defenders of new reproductive techniques regard as natural, feminists challenge as political. As feminists have attacked the false essentialism that the male sexual urge is uncontrollable and therefore men need prostitutes to satisfy their sexual needs, so too feminists oppose the idea that reproduction is a biological imperative. Feminists challenge men's need for so-called surrogates in order to fulfill their supposed genetic destiny of fathering children. Technological reproduction has also been grounded in women's need for children, thus providing the excuse for many invasive and mutilating procedures. It is rationalized that women who submit to such techniques are fulfilling their basic mothering instinct. In both examples, anything a man or woman does to procreate is a natural urge, an instinctual force, that must have an outlet. The difference is that men do not usually consent to their own exploitation but to the exploitation of a woman, whereas a woman undergoing invasive reproductive medicine must submit to a violation of her own bodily integrity, even if she consents to the procedure.

Since the nineteenth century especially, the so-called laws of nature have come to be understood more and more in scientific terms. Scientists analyze, dissect, and categorize what were formerly natural or divine dictums such as racial and gender differences. Procreation is perceived as a law of nature that, in the context of new reproductive technologies, acquires an expanded scientific mandate. Scientific legitimacy makes it more difficult to challenge the medical model of procreation as a natural law demanding fulfillment.

At this historical point when feminists have de-essentialized motherhood—politicizing the natural definition of women as mothers and distinguishing between motherhood as experience and motherhood as institution—along come the reproductive medical fundamentalists to put mothering back into the sphere of women's natural destiny. The new reproductive technologies represent an appropriation by male scientific experts of the female body, depoliticizing reproduction and motherhood by recasting these roles as fundamental instincts that must be satisfied.

-Janice G. Raymond, Women as Wombs: Reproductive Technologies and the Battle Over Women’s Freedom

[erebusvincent]

"The women were held captive on a 'human farm' in the eastern European country of Georgia by a criminal organisation led by Chinese criminals, who sold their eggs on the black market...

The women were pumped up with hormones to stimulate their ovaries and were forced to have their eggs removed once a month."

Surrogacy is the reason for this. Both are abominable. Women’s bodies are not commodities to be bought and sold and harvested for parts.

[got7]

men are so fucking stupid

[a-consuming-passion]

The Billionaire's Baby is Morally Bankrupt

Shocking, yes, I know. But damn, 99% of characters in this story are pure evil.

A "cushy gig"?!? SELLING A BABY?!? And this is supposed to be MC's friend?

I like the part where the woman is only doing this out of financial desperation though, that's very realistic.

Ah, so you're fine with having another woman go through something you don't want for yourself, including the health effects from artificially harvesting her eggs?

That doesn't give you the right to exploit a penniless woman though?

Ah, see, it's not all as bad as I thought! They're not planning on tearing your newborn babe right out of your arms the moment you give birth, no. They will wait a few months, you know, just to make sure you've bonded with your child, and THEN they will send you off and you'll never see your baby again. Happy endings all around!

[coochiequeens]

I don't like conservative "news" media like fox and this site but no one else is talking about how surrogacy gives pedos access to kids.

The fertility industry is handing designer babies over to men with zero vetting or scrutiny of their mental fitness or criminal history.

By KATY FAUST

Surrogacy is risky for children. Not just the risk of a primal wound via intentional birth mother separation. Not just the risk of identity struggles if their genetic mother is purchased from a catalog. Not just the risk of mother-hunger if they are raised in a home absent maternal love. 

Surrogacy puts children at risk for the worst kinds of abuse. 

That became glaringly obvious last month when YouTubers Shane Dawson and partner Ryan Adams announced the birth of twin boys. Dawson’s long history of sexualizing children is well-known and well-documented. Evie magazine detailed concerning incidents including Dawson pretending to masturbate while watching 11-year-old Willow Smith’s music video, referring to a 6-year-old fan as “kind of sexy,” justifying pedophilia as a mere “fetish,” typing “naked baby” in a child pornography search and remarking that the returns were “sexy,” and proclaiming, “I would rape all of you” when viewing a series of photos featuring young girls wearing his merchandise.

In one show, he instructed a 12-year-old to eat a “cocktail weenie” with the recognition that child molesters comprise a significant portion of his audience. Dawson and Adam have another 10 embryos in frozen storage should they decide they want a few more children around the house.

We hope no harm comes to the boys to whom Dawson and Adams have been granted (via surrogacy contract) parental rights. But other surrogate-born children were not so fortunate.

Contrary to what you may think, surrogacy isn’t just about helping infertile couples have babies. When we look at how surrogacy is actually practiced and promoted, we see surrogacy isn’t about babies, it’s about on-demand, designer babies shipped worldwide. And sometimes, those babies are shipped directly to child abusers.

We don’t know the raw numbers because, unlike organ donation, the medical wing of #BigFertility requires no tracking or follow-up of those who avail themselves of their services. (Apparently, there’s more concern about the survival of a kidney than a child.) And unlike adoption, which heavily vets and screens prospective parents and monitors the child post-placement, surrogate-born children are not known to social workers and often disappear across international borders.

Even when safeguards are in place, predators often go to great lengths to acquire children to abuse. In 2022, the country was horrified by the story of a suburban pedophile ring set up by two married men who raped and pimped out their adopted sons. 

That children created by a fertility industry with no mechanism (and no desire) to scrutinize intended parents for things like mental fitness, criminal records, or predatory history end up in the homes of dangerous adults should surprise no one.

Absent any kind of record-keeping or follow-up on these children, those of us who reject surrogacy on the grounds that it violates the rights of children, must piece together the risks when stories of child victimization emerge. 

These 5 Pedophiles Mail-Ordered Babies

Psychiatrist Jo Erik Brøyn held a high position in Norwegian social services responsible for child protection and was involved in several high-profile cases of child removal. He also acquired two boys through an Indian surrogate. In 2018, police discovered 20 years’ worth of child pornography in his possession — more than 20,000 images and 4,000 hours of videos — depicting child sexual abuse including “boys masturbating each other, fixed/sexualized violence against children, anal sex by men with boys or oral sex of children (including toddlers) on grown men.” He was sentenced to less than two years in prison. Some sources report that the boys have been returned to his care.

An unnamed German pedophile hired a Russian surrogate for €60,000 who birthed the baby in Greece. He then flew the child back to Germany. In 2020, a regional court found him guilty of child abuse and producing and possessing child pornography. His child was a subject of 16 of those cases between the ages of 2 and 3, and the defendant was in possession of 175,000 images of child pornography. He was sentenced to five years in prison. The child was removed from his custody. 

In 2013, Mark Newton and Peter Truong were convicted of subjecting their surrogate-born son to “the worst [pedophile] rings … if not the worst ring I’ve ever heard of,” according to one investigator. After paying a Russian surrogate $8,000 to carry the child, the pair began to violate the boy as a newborn.

“The abuse began just days after his birth and over six years the couple traveled the world, offering him up for sex with at least eight men, recording the abuse and uploading the footage to an international syndicate known as the Boy Lovers Network.” Police believe the pair created the boy through surrogacy “for the sole purpose of exploitation.” The child was removed from their custody, and the men are serving decades-long sentences.

During the height of the Indian surrogacy boom, it was revealed that an Israeli sex offender had procured a little girl via surrogacy. Had #BigFertility had any kind of vetting in place or required fingerprinting or simply character references, it would likely have been discovered that the man had spent 18 months in jail for sexually abusing young children under his supervision. The discovery shocked authorities in both India and Israel, but because they couldn’t prove that abuse had yet taken place, there was no ground to remove the girl from his custody. It did however validate India’s decision to ban single men and gay couples, who composed 30-50 percent of intended parents, from the Indian surrogacy market.

In 2014, intended parents Wendy and David Farnell commissioned twin surrogate children in Thailand, then a global hotspot for surrogacy. The little girl, Pipah, was healthy, but the little boy, Gammy, had serious medical issues as well as Down Syndrome. A scandal erupted when the couple took the little girl back to Australia but abandoned Gammy to be raised by the Thai surrogate.

It was then discovered that David had been jailed in the late 1990s for sexually molesting two girls under the age of 10, and was charged, convicted, and sentenced again in 1998 on six counts of indecently dealing with a child under the age of 13. When his criminal record was revealed and investigated, a judge determined there was “a low risk of harm if Pipah stays in that home,” and she remained in the care of Wendy and David until his death in 2020. The “Baby Gammy” case was one of several scandals that prompted the Thai government to ban commercial surrogacy altogether. 

Many of the above cases are older, the results of contracts that were drawn up when surrogacy was less common. Since then, the surrogacy industry has grown exponentially with a projected 1,000 percent increase by 2032. In addition, there are entire organizations devoted to delivering custom-ordered babies to men, none of which will have to submit to background checks or fingerprinting. So expect more cases of surrogate-born child exploitation in the coming years. 

Whether or not the child ends up abused, whether it’s paid or altruistic, whether it’s traditional or gestational, and regardless of the intended parent’s household composition, surrogacy always violates the rights of the child. It is not a problem that can be solved through regulation. The only way to protect children is to ban surrogacy worldwide.

[lesbionia]

It's pretty common for people from other countries to seek out surrogates in Canada because I guess our laws are different than most places. Several women in my family have done it and it really changed my perspective on surrogacy for the worse. One of my aunts almost died on her FIFTH surrogate pregnancy!

Also, because of our laws, you can't get paid for surrogacy directly. These women (at least the ones I know) do it to have their groceries reimbursed every month so they can feed their own children and maybe get a tiny bit ahead.

I think because surrogacy is such a "feel good" issue and people think that these women do it freely and for selfless reasons, they are reluctant to criticize it. But the truth is very, very ugly.

“Not every person has the right to be a parent” is a sentiment I feel is widely accepted in leftist circles, referring largely to abusive households. But this doesn’t get taken to condemn surrogacy and egg-donating industries. Like Jesus Christ why do most leftists not care about this flavor of stuff when it financially exploits women, and subjects them to unnecessary harm? All just because it means infertile women and homosexual couples can have a different way to have children to raise? What happened to “having children isn’t a guaranteed right” Of course I know it’s because of misogyny, but good grief.

[erebusvincent]

This was in a single hour, even though I am both too old and listed as male on Facebook:

Unsettling.

[walking-loather]

Surrogacy is unethical and evil.