Woman asking nhs to pay for US surrogacy

OMG OhHolyJesus

My blood is running cold looking at that link you posted. "En route to Europe"
Why the hell is Cindy Wasser having meetings in Paris when surrogacy is banned in France?
There is a concerted push to commodify women's reproductive capabilities and the resultant babies. It is big business, with links world wide. They keep pushing the boundaries even in countries where it is banned.
I'm so depressed.

She is not technically asking for the NHS to pay for commercial surrogacy (ignoring views on surrogacy and IVF). It is a very fine distinction - she is asking for compensation for the negligence over her missed cancer.

She won in the first Court and was granted an amount of compensation. She challenged the award as not being enough and that she should get more compensation and won. That is now being challenged again and presumably the NHS wants to lower the award to what it was originally.

It is all about how much compensation she should get for the missed diagnosis. She just wants more money to be able to compensate her and cover the cost of surrogacy. If her higher award is upheld then she will still be compensated for the missed diagnosis and it is just that she is choosing to use some of that money to fund commercial surrogacy.

I've posted this before, but NHS funding is intended to cover investigation and treatment of disease or injury.

True but that's not the point here - this is about compensation for negligence. Same way that if the NHS negligently rendered me unable to walk they'd need to pay damages that would cover making my house accessible. It's a damages question not an NHS funding one.

I've posted this before, but NHS funding is intended to cover investigation and treatment of disease or injury.

Surrogacy isn't medical treatment.

And with regards to the gay couples scenarios, the NHS only funds IVF for people with proven infertility. Best to ignore prejudice on this one.

Don't agree with this at all.

Will these be biological children (as in, did she have eggs frozen before her hysterectomy), does anyone know? Or are they donor eggs (or the surrogate woman's eggs) too?

Not that either scenario would make this OK, it's still horrible to insist on doing this in the US so that the surrogates don't have any rights.

500k is already a very hefty amount of compensation which must already address the pain and suffering around the fact that she is unable to have children herself.

I don't really understand why she is using a large proportion of her compensation (presumably, lawyers aren't cheap) taking the NHS to court a second time instead of just paying for surrogacy with that money now.

It's the NHS who are appealing not the claimant.

She's specifically asking for compensation to fund US surrogacy over and above the costs of UK surrogacy? That seems to be putting a cost on the removal of rights from the hypothetical surrogate, and then saying the NHS should be liable for paying to remove those rights.

She has been terribly wronged but she shouldn't be able to demand that this wrong is remedied by removing rights from someone else to give more to her.

@juneybean totally. We have fertility issues and would love just 1!

4 children?! When was anyone “entitled” to 1 child never mind 4. What happened to her was unfortunate but she had already had compensation. Why should she get double?! Never mind to spend on an unregulated and often immoral process

Can everyone remind me why the NHS is broke?! Oh yeah, other peoples excessive demands and selfishness

I think she should be compensated for negligence. I don’t think the NHS should be forced to pay for the surrogacy in the U.S. but she can spend any comp she gets however she likes.

Indeed Ginger the lawyers I'm sure are being paid a pretty penny - the Law Commission were in touch with a Law firm in Canada when they designed the public consultation.

www.hopespringsfertility.com

It's run by Cindy Wasser, a criminal defence lawyer who had two women have her daughters for her and another woman have her eggs.

This is not what the NHS is for. This is not what other women’s bodies are for.

And no-one has a right to having a child.

How much does a commercial surrogacy in the USA cost? If it is somewhere close to a million for 4 pregnancies then someone along the line is making a hell of a lot of money and I bet it is not the surrogate.

I totally support her claim for negligence but I can't support he surrogacy claim.

A totally shitty situation but it sets a dangerous precedent.

I do think is will be a dangerous precedent if the court rules in favour of buying a service that is illegal in the UK and immoral

I don't really understand why she is using a large proportion of her compensation (presumably, lawyers aren't cheap) taking the NHS to court a second time instead of just paying for surrogacy with that money now.

Presumably her argument is that the compensation already paid was insufficient, and this is a way of quantifying it.

Give inch, take yard comes to mind.

She has been compensated for medical negligence and I can't imagine how she must be feeling.

However, she has had the compensation to try and sue a second time to rent wombs on terms that are illegal in the UK is horrifying for one child, let alone 4.

Then you get into the 'Human Right' of gay couples having babies through surrogacy, otherwise it is homophobic discrimination. Surrogacy and IVF - just don't do there with the NHS.

@Poissonpoison. I don't think IVF should be funded by NHS either.
I don't consider it a human right or an entitlement.

Rent a womb is immoral.

So, whilst I have every sympathy for the situation this woman is in, you can't fix that wrong by making other women take on all the risks and consequences of 4 pregnancies for money.

This is entitlement and Human Rights overreach. Not saying that NHS should not be accountable for negligence, but this is a dangerous precedent, it only considers the individual's 'human rights' rather than rights of other women and the dangerous precedent it sets.
Think what that amount of money could do in the NHS.

She's been compensated for the neglect. If she wants to spend the money in the US, I guess that's up to her.

I do not think the NHS should fund more than one, if that is what happens for everyone else needing fertility treatment ... whether or not she "wants" one or five or four, other people might also "want" that ... however people might feel about others having over 2 children and the effect on the environment etc.

It's a sad situation and I a lot of the wording is inflamatory, so it's difficult to keep calm when reading it.

Surrogacy shouldn't be funded on the NHS for anyone. I'm at the point I dont think ivf should be either.

The nhs missed my cancer, I'm just really fucking happy to be alive to be honest.

itwasalovelydream homophobia much?