Pope Francis calls for universal ban on surrogacy

[shockeditellyou]

https://www.thejournal.ie/pope-francis-calls-for-universal-ban-surrogacy-6267108-Jan2024/

Good for him. Encouragingly, the comments I’ve seen on another site where this was posted are almost entirely supportive of banning surrogacy, which I wasn’t expecting.

I’m starting to think I really actually don’t 😰 x

Doesn’t the Catholic church have a history of removing babies from unmarried mothers? It seems inappropriate for the Pope to comment on surrogacy without reflecting on that.

I agree 100% with Pope Francis.

@Pigeotto you're not really getting the point. You shouldn’t be able to outsource growing a baby in someone else’s body the baby makes a viable connection it’s everything they’ve ever known they get born then are taken away without a voice of their wishes. As a side note my twin brother died at birth I was told at 8 I always felt something was missing even though I didn’t have a name for it I felt wrong. Can you imagine being a surrogate baby ? Just every type of wrong
Amazingly I agree with the pope and Catholic Church well done pope

Maybe I am missing the point, but if everyone is consenting adults and the amounts involved are £10ks I don’t really see the problem in a world that’s already so corrupt and where people are doing much more exploitative things than carry a baby for someone to go to a loving home.

Well done that pope. Good poping.

I agree for paid surrogacy, but what about a family member offering for a sibling who can't have their own? I'd do it for my sister if needed.

Snap;I don't have a sister but would have carried for my sister in law or best friend if they weren't able to have a baby.

So it's alright for you to spare yourself the 'savageness' of pregnancy because you can pay another woman to risk her life? Usually they are poor and vulnerable women. Surrogacy is dispicable.

Are you in favour of commercial organ donation for the same reason?

Carrying a baby with BIL sperm for your sis or having a baby and giving it off to someone else is disgraceful.
If you can't biologically carry your own child then don't. It's not a human right. You're risking a woman dying for your own selfishness.

Good to hear. I'm totally against all surrogacy

I'm not Catholic but I agree with Pope

Wholeheartedly agree with Pope Francis. Good to hear more voices speaking out against surrogacy.

everyone is NOT ‘consenting adults’.

There is a human child being grown to order and SOLD involved in this. It doesn’t matter if the sale price is ten of thousands of pounds. Babies are not commodities. And any other activity involving the sale of humans is (rightly) regarded as abhorrent.

There are intermediaries who profit enormously off the danger that women (often poor and vulnerable women) put themselves in to undertake a pregnancy.

Pregnancy is about the most dangerous thing a human can do. Even more so when the egg is also ‘donated’ (or bought) because that increases the risk for the woman.

Having a baby is NOT a basic human right. The (international) baby trade is not some fluffy and wonderful social good; it’s indicative of worst aspects of commodification and exploitation.

What if it’s not a loving home? What guarantee is there? What morals might someone choose to ignore if they’re desperate enough for the right price?

Human lives are not commodities. Have you ever thought of the effect on the child that is removed from the woman that gave birth to them and is then raised by someone they are told is their mother and eventually is told their life is a lie ?

Well, a stopped clock is right twice a day!

Indeed. Considering the laundries, mother and baby homes and the stealing and selling of babies they made a fortune from the same thing. The scandals are still being uncovered.

This is an interesting post. 'intended mother', intended by whom? The baby? The birth mother? The fee payer? Can you appreciate the view that many who oppose surrogacy/buying babies new born from mothers, think that the 'intended mother' is the person who gave birth, unless in the extreme circumstance where the baby has to be removed for safeguarding.

The other bit that jumped out at me was the phrase 'get that immediate bond'. The process of pregnancy and birth bonds and is designed to bond the baby and mother. By taking a baby you break that bond. How does a baby manage to then 'get that immediate bond' with a stranger?

How indeed does the strange man or woman 'get that immediate bond', with the baby? We know that many people have said they have struggled to bond with their paid for baby and i am not surprised. There is so much literature about babies taken at birth and the effect of that bond being broken. You seem to be completely brushing over the human bonds and emotions of surrogacy and i find your wording on this, cold, as seems to be so often the case when people are proponents of surrogacy/buying babies, new born from mothers.

Absolutely good poping

I personally agree and think as women we can make informed choices. But then I’m not catholic and also think abortion should be allowed (even though it’s not very nice).

My daughter had aggressive cancer and the treatments she endured means she won't be able to carry her own baby. However, they did remove one of her ovaries and it's in cryopreservation now so she can have IVF if she decides she wants children. Without a surrogate, she won't be able to have her own children. Is that right?

its very sad that she can not have her own children. But that doesn’t make surrogacy OK.

This would also mean gay women can have their own babies but gay men can't. Is that right?