Smug British couple using Indian Surrogate as 'receptacle' for their biological child

[Romilly70]

This article was in the DM (yes I do read it, although I know it's shit).

I was hoping this was a spoof article given their names.
I just cannot believe that people like this woman actually exist!

Guardian article on the issue

I personally think it raises huge ethical issues - the Guardian article touches on some of those.

Surrogate agreements don't "buy a woman". That is called slavery.

Or if you prefer the right wing press The Torygraph on the issue

Yes of course, if you have enough money you should buy what/whoever you want - wombs, kidneys, babies, sex. There are no moral issues, just business transactions.

Deliberate wind up tine from DM but there so many things that are & can go wrong here.
Firstly, the clinic is not reliably regulated - I would be very concerned that the extra eggs were safely kept. How do they know that aren't being sold on? A clinic that separates the surrogates from their own children doesn't sound too scrupulous to me. They have no contact with their surrogate, don't know how much she is being paid . Again the clinic may be exploiting this.
How will they get child back into UK? It will need a visa!
And, God forbid, what if it goes wrong? If the baby does not develop properly, birth doesn't go well, illness, disability ...
Who will be left holding the baby, so to speak? Will they tree she the child if it is not perfect? What if the surrogate Mum dies in childbirth? What about her children?
So many what ifs!

Surrogacy is a wonderful gift but needs to be very carefully considered, regulated a and policed. For the benefit of all parties involved.

I knew I'd read something about these clinics before. It was this article:

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/06/surrogate-mothers-india

This article raises some serious issues: www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/NE24Df02.html

Rubirosa - Do you just hate people who have money, or is your problem more about just not understanding the difference between slavery and hiring someone for services?

I agree Iheard - the second article above describes a case where the mother died.

I can imagine there being a huge issue if a child obviously disabled was delivered. What on earth would happen if the genetic parents refused to accept the child (and believe me there are people who would do that). The child would be a citizen of India still (I think - if I have understood the articles the genetic parents have to apply for UK citizenship for the child after birth - other countries may differ I guess). A surrogate family already living in poverty could hardly be expected to take on a disabled child. Big, big potential can of worms there.

Guardian article about the woman who died

Note I am not against surrogacy, but I think there are huge ethical issues with rich westerners paying for surrogates from the poorest sections of Indian society via completely unregulated clinics.

The DM could have put words in their mouths but if they haven't im shocked and astounded about the way the couple come across. They sound so very cold hearted, but maybe that is their coping mechanism who knows
The fact they don't want to be at the birth is also very odd and how exactly are they going to bring the child back into the uk with no paperwork/visas etc: how will it all work??
Not only that but will the lady get all the money or will the clinic get most of it?, leaving her still poor and of course she could bond with the baby and refuse to give him/her to the couple, again legally it would still be the surrogates child even though it isn't bioligically iyswim.

If everything printed is entirelly true, its exploitation at its very best.

Good point there Saintly

If comercial surrogacy is illegal in the uk it should also be illegal for uk couple to do this abroad and bring the baby back here. It makes a mockery of the law. One for the rich...

Correct me if I'm wrong but surrogacy isn't illegal in the UK. You are not supposed to pay more than "adequate expenses" but nobody is checking what those are. A quick internet search will show that there are websites facilitating contact between willing surrogates and prospective parents.

What maryz said.

Well said maryz - both posts.

As the Guardian article I already linked to says:

If India doesn't pass the regulatory bill soon, the international community should pressurise it to do so. This is now a global industry so requires an international law and a global fertility body to regulate it. Otherwise, it is likely that most of the unhealthy practices prevailing will go underground ? and the fog of secrecy over the industry will become more dense.

Here's a rather messy case involving a surrogate pregnancy where the baby has DS.

Oh meant to say in Canada, not India

That Canadian case raises issue after issue tbh

I'm horrified by this. I think the law should be changed here so the children cannot get British passports, might be a simple way to stop it.

I really do believe people need to accept they can't have everything the want, however much they may want it. Having a biological child is not a right, and I think adopting a child from abroad (properly) who be far more preferable and do worry that they are doing it this way so their child has 'white skin and red hair'

Were all judging from the point of view of a) never having to be in a position to need to go down this route and b) assuming that the poor Asian women is somehow being exploited just because she is a poor Asian women and were sitting reading it on our smug Western arses thinking 'oooh women dont need to do this in our bloody country, rent a womb in order to get by. It's all just a bit patronising to the Asian surrogates

Well what if the asian women willing did this so she could give her own kids the chance of an education or have money to start a business? Sometimes opportunities are limited to Asian women of a certain background but doing this might just help them and their families out of poverty.

While I totally agree that there is a need for controls and regulations to be in place to protect the surrogate mother and baby, is it so different from people going abroad for cheaper surgery

Did you read the Guardian article bakingaddict? This line stood out to me.

Whoever the prospective parents, the pattern is the same: it is only India's desperately poor women who are tempted to rent their wombs.

I think, it's similar in the States where large payments are also made - in that the majority of people who act as surrogates are poor. This does rather suggest some exploitation. After all if a decent amount of money is being paid why is it only the very poor who are tempted?

I'm not against surrogacy but I think it's naive to assume there's no exploitation - and all the more reason for strict international legislation.

As an aside I do hope the family of the woman who died were paid well or given some sort of compensation. She left behind two children I'm not clear from reading the reports what sort of payment her family might have received - as the child was born healthy I assume they will have received the surrogacy payment as a minimum.