paid surrogacy in poor countries is NOT exploitation

[kellyandthecat]

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/20/commercial-surrogacy-wombs-rent-same-sex-pregnancy

julie blindel writes a very self-satisfied piece in the Guardian saying surrogacy should be banned in poor countries because the women there are being exploited. she used a very extreme example - the very sad case of the little boy with down's abandoned in thailand by the australian couple - but that's about it. of course surrogacy should take place in good conditions and no one should be forced into it, but to ban it completely seems VERY unreasonable to me. my sister struggled with fertility problems for years and if they had to they wouldn't have had the money to use a surrogate here in the UK or the USA. it was a HUGE struggle and I remember how hard it was for her. its heartbreaking to think people could be shut off from this option when assuming the conditions are right the surrogates in these countries can earn a life-changing amount of money for them and provide such a life-changing help to those struggling to concieve.

now of course the surrogates conditions have to be good and their compensation appropriate. but i feel like a blanket ban is exactly the kind of not-thinking-it-through that led to all the sperm donation rules being changed so now no men donate sperm any more and we have a huge shortage and crisis effecting those with fertility problems.

Arguably any kind of arbitrage between parties where there is a large disparity of wealth is exploitative. Some people take this view eg about cleaners. And what about all the Poles making your latte in Costa on shit wages? But most people (with IMO sensible pragmatism) shrug their shoulders and are quite happy to benefit from these kinds of disparities.

What people on this thread seem to be arguing is that a line has to be drawn when that arbitrage involves people's bodily integrity, eg sex work, organ sales or surrogacy. I would agree with this. I'm generally in favour of free markets but I think there is no price on human dignity and while I sympathise with the pain of people suffering infertility and can understand how some would stop at nothing to have a baby in this case I think it's wrong. Not because surrogacy is intrinsically wrong but because where economic disparities are so great the issue of consent becomes too blurred. Can someone really be said to consent when risks are so high but the pressures on her are overwhelming? Others might disagree but as a feminist I would not be willing to risk colluding in the abuse of another woman's reproductive organs just because she was born poor?

It is totally wrong I am afraid. Very sad that your sister is not able to bear her own child but worse for another woman to be exploited to make this happen.

Life isn't fair. Family members or close friends choosing to do someone a huge kindness is different as they directly benefit. Even in this country surrogacy payments do not outweigh the risks that the surrogate faces.

you would rather the women stay poor as long as they use their womb the way you think is appropriate? surely if it is THEIR body it is THEIR business assuming as I said that all the conditions and payment etc are fair and above board

This. Banning surrogacy doesn't solve the poverty problem. it actually makes it worse.

by all means, i think we and the governments in those countries should give women choices and economic opportunities. I am not sure what this ban achieves in that direction.

YABU. I can't have my own kids and wouldn't for one minute considering hiring another woman to do so for me. I see it as exploitative and risky for the woman concerned.

how Is It not exploitation. they do this as they are so poor it is the only way they can make money. if you would only do something because of such dire hardship then what else can you call it.

it's the same as anything else people do when desperate for money and those who take advantage of this are frequently known as exploiting their situation.

would you really want someone to carry your baby in this situation knowing they aren't doing it out of the kindness of their heart but out of desperation

I cannot imagine the sense of entitlement it would take to think because you want something badly enough, it's ok to pay a poor person to carry a baby.
It just confirms my opinion that on some level some of those with money view those without as barely even human.

You, and many of the women who enter into this, are making the mistake of thinking that most of the money goes into the hands of the surrogate. It does not - the bulk of the money goes to middlemen - the agents and unscrupulous medical personnel involved in this horrible trade. It's not a lifechanging amount for them - their lives are crap before and possibly worse after if anything goes wrong.

How can you say in the same post that it's not exploitation AND your sister looked into it as she couldn't afford it in the UK or the US?

If it's cheaper it's because the women are being paid significantly less for the same service, so it is exploitation.

I have had fertility problems and I can tell you now that I would never exploit another woman's poverty in order to get a surrogate baby on the cheap.

OTheHugeManatee

Brilliant post.

If we held up score cards on here I'd be doing this....

I am a surrogate, I also strongly believe money should not be the driving force. The laws are very strict here,and i for one am thankful for that.

Another one voting for Manatee's post.

It's wrong. I don't often agree with Julie Bindel but she's right here.

Occasionally there are no shades of grey in a situation this is one of them.