‘Our Baby: A Modern Miracle’ C4 10pm tonight

[Haveastock]

The story of Jake Graf and Hannah Winterbourne’s surrogacy journey. They’re the photogenic transgender power couple who are patrons of Mermaid.

Their surrogate was an Irish woman and I followed Jake on Instagram during the whole drama of the birth happening amidst a pandemic. I actually shed a tear when I saw a photo of the baby in their arms and thought about a nameless woman in the background having to deal with the post-birth pain and bleeding without a baby to hold.

I’ve just watched a trailer where Jake said they were hoping for a boy first (they used their own eggs and donor sperm) as they knew how to handle boys - throw them around, be boisterous etc. and werevmore familiar with that then girls who, as far as they were concerned mainly played with glitter and dolls!!! Yes, they laughingly admitted they’re were as prone to gender stereotypes as the next man, woman etc.! How we laughed!?

I’m sure it will be an interesting programme and the baby is so gorgeous. As I’ve said before, I wish them all well. The baby won’t be short on love. But by championing Mermaids and their push for the affirmation model, no matter how young, Jake is indirectly encouraging a generation of young kids to start on a treatment pathway that will end up in depriving them of any chance of a biological child of their own. I find that absolutely tragic.

(Am sure they’re a bit frustrated that their programme is airing during the 48 hour Twitter blackout)

Hope no one minds me posting about it on this board. Am sure there will be a thread in Telly Addicts too. I imagine they’ll get a lot of positive feedback.

Yeah, miracle is now an elastic term that apparently includes renting out women's bodies so you can get a child to imprint your sexist values on. Wouldn't call it modern though. Misogyny is pretty traditional stuff.

@FloralBunting

Yeah, miracle is now an elastic term that apparently includes renting out women's bodies so you can get a child to imprint your sexist values on. Wouldn't call it modern though. Misogyny is pretty traditional stuff.

👍

@FloralBunting

Yeah, miracle is now an elastic term that apparently includes renting out women's bodies so you can get a child to imprint your sexist values on. Wouldn't call it modern though. Misogyny is pretty traditional stuff.

I think this is all that needs to be said on the matter.

Very interested in this OP thanks for noting.

I can't remember where I heard it from but my understanding was they were home with the baby within 12 hours of the birth.

Ireland hasn't got much in the way of federal law around surrogacy. In the U.K hospitals there is a minimum of time that needs to pass before the baby is discharged, usually off the premises to prevent legal issues for the hospital. I also understood for that the birth was a gone birth for surrogate mother, again I think there is a minimum of 6 hours in the U.K. before the baby can be removed from the mother, but I could be wrong about that.

@FloralBunting

Yeah, miracle is now an elastic term that apparently includes renting out women's bodies so you can get a child to imprint your sexist values on. Wouldn't call it modern though. Misogyny is pretty traditional stuff.

Yes this.

Totally agree. It's no miracle that you can simply rent a female to make you a baby.

The fact that they are patrons of Mermaids is pretty scary, I hope that the child has a lot of sensible people around them to counteract the gender ID nonsense they'll be getting taught from a young age.

The baby was born in NI, part of the UK, which maybe made flying with an undocumented baby easier? www.channel4.com/press/news/our-baby-modern-miracle-q-and-hannah-and-jake-graf-0

4 min trailer m.facebook.com/Channel4/videos/343825179983050/

I saw the advert for this last night, I simply snorted and said to DH, having embryos frozen, and popped into a surrogate does not make it a modern miracle.

A strange idea for a documentary, though it will be interesting to know how the decision regarding the embryos was reached.

I think the Op saw a different trailer. The trailer I posted includes that Hannah didn’t see the need for gamete preservation, because they didn’t see the possibility of wanting to be a parent. Hannah was already an adult, an officer in the army, when they transitioned. 2008? 21?
Yet knowing what they now know, is a patron of Mermaids.

The baby won’t be short on love.

I'm sure you're right. But the baby will have been ripped from his/her world and all the familiar rhythms and sounds and will be plunged into a stange new world with no way of understanding or processing what has happened. That baby will be formed around the primal experience of abandonment and no amount of love or later adult intellectual understanding can heal that wound.

I watched the first part of that trailer with my eyes closed. I could tell who was talking without seeing their faces.

I think the sense of entitlement as well as the language around motherhood is .... going to be really interesting.

I definitely want to know more about the surrogate mother, Laura so we'll see how much she features.

@FloralBunting

Yeah, miracle is now an elastic term that apparently includes renting out women's bodies so you can get a child to imprint your sexist values on. Wouldn't call it modern though. Misogyny is pretty traditional stuff.

Absolutely - this says it all

Not sure what is modern or miraculous about turning into a commodity to be bought and a woman’s body into something to be hired then cast aside.

turning a baby into a commodity

That trans widow's exes could pose as the mother of a new child is a terrifying prospect.

@FloralBunting

Yeah, miracle is now an elastic term that apparently includes renting out women's bodies so you can get a child to imprint your sexist values on. Wouldn't call it modern though. Misogyny is pretty traditional stuff.

And this is all that needs to be said.

Oh and no I won't watch it, in the same way I don't watch sexual abuse of women on TV - why would I give a ratings hit for female exploitation?

Yeah, miracle is now an elastic term that apparently includes renting out women's bodies so you can get a child to imprint your sexist values on. Wouldn't call it modern though. Misogyny is pretty traditional stuff.

This. I think that covers all I wanted to say, Floral

@FloralBunting

Yeah, miracle is now an elastic term that apparently includes renting out women's bodies so you can get a child to imprint your sexist values on. Wouldn't call it modern though. Misogyny is pretty traditional stuff.

This.

I'm going to get flamed for this but;

This is all so wrong.

I really don't believe in Frankenstein-type science where reproduction is concerned.

It is nearly always for the benefit of the parents, never the child, who will always feel 'different' to their peers and have to emotionally come to terms with how they were created.

Obviously IVF babies are now adults, and sperm donation has always been around in one form or another... but egg donation, surrogacy, trans parents, it is one huge experiment on reproductive possibilities at the expense of the babies mental health.

Nobody ever advocates for the babies, it's all 'As long as you're happy that's the main thing'.

@Wolfgirrl couldn't agree more.

Given the thread so far, no sure why you would think you'll be flamed, Wolfgirrl

@FloralBunting

Because if I am being brutally honest, i dont believe in any of the methods i mentioned above (aside from IVF in M/F couples). Or possibly if it was ethical sperm donation whereby the baby has some form of relationship with their biological father.

Your biological needs are incredibly powerful, to deprive somebody of knowing where they came from is to create a massive hole in their life from the outset.

Sorry so to summarise, given the number of MN users that have been through egg/sperm donation etc I thought I would get flamed.

I've actually just started a new thread as I'm intrigued to hear other people's opinions but dont want to derail this one!