Surrogacy can create orphans - a surrogate mother dies

[OhHolyJesus]

From Jennifer Lahl, who speaks out about surrogacy, on the recent death of a surrogate mother, in her third surrogacy pregnancy:

I was away over the Memorial Day weekend, when I saw a GoFundMe notice posted on Instagram that tipped me off that another gestational surrogate mother had died in the United States.
The GoFundMe was set up by Ashlee Hammonds, the head of Family Makers Surrogacy, an agency in Atlanta, Georgia. Ms. Hammonds is trying to raise money for the children left behind since their mother is no longer alive to provide for them. She asks for privacy for the family and does not wish to divulge any identifying information.
Due to the scarce information, the details of this woman’s death are limited. We know that she was a 3-time gestational surrogate who was set to deliver the baby the day of her death. We are told in the GoFundMe notice that she died of an amniotic embolism, a complication in pregnancy.
We do not know if she was carrying one baby or more, or the outcome of the baby/babies born. It is reported that her daughter is about to turn 16, and that she had sons, though we are not told how many.
But, because no one else is reporting this death, I write this to chronicle her death along with other surrogate deaths I have reported on. Brooke Brown and the twins she carried. Crystal Wilhite. Michelle Reaves. These three women were wives and mothers. I wonder how many others have died that have gone unnoticed?
We now can no longer deny that a gestational surrogate pregnancy is a much riskier pregnancy than a spontaneous pregnancy where the woman carries her own baby.
One important study pointed out that when comparing a woman’s pregnancy with her own children with her surrogate pregnancies these women have higher rates of hypertension, gestational diabetes, and placenta previa. These put both the mother and baby into a high-risk category.
I am often asked, “how many surrogates have died?” and my response, always the same, is a so very sad, “we just don’t know, and we have no way of knowing, because there is no tracking or monitoring.”
When this woman died, the cause of death recorded on her death certificate will likely be something tied to the pregnancy complication that took her life. It will not record anywhere that she was a surrogate.
The baby’s, (or babies’, as we do not know if she was carrying one or twins or more) birth certificate will not record the fact that the birth mother died. Most likely, because of pre-birth orders, the birth mother’s name will never even appear on the birth certificate.
The cover up of #BigFertility was fast and efficient. All my efforts to find out who the woman was and where this death took place came up empty. I sent a private message to Family Matters on Facebook that I was trying to reach Ms. Hammonds.
I received a message that said, “Hello Jennifer, out of respect for the family we are honoring their wishes by not sharing any further details outside of what has already been shared on the Go Fund Me surrounding the tragedy. Thank you for understanding.”
Funny, my query did not mention anything about the death, only that I wanted to speak with Ms. Hammond. As I was immediately blocked from sending more messages, that door was shut. I called their offices and was not able to speak with a live person.
Their Twitter Account “doesn’t exist” as there was a flurry of tweets to them upon this breaking news, which I imagine prompted them to shut down their twitter account.
Here are the questions I pose to Ms. Hammonds. If you are reading this, I would welcome speaking with you.
• Why when you set up the GoFundMe account were you trying to raise $45,000 and within a few hours, you dropped that amount to $25,000?
• How do you set the price for your GoFundMe account, what exactly is the value of her life and how did you determine that?
• What is your agency’s policy around informing surrogates of the serious health risks, especially in the case of a woman who has had at least three of her own children and is embarking upon her third surrogacy pregnancy, compounding these risks to her poor body?
• Does your agency or did the intended parents carry a life insurance policy, and if not, why not? And if so, for how much?
• What is your obligation to the orphans left behind?
GoFundMe allows you to sort the donors by “highest donors” and I did find it chilling that nearly all the highest donations ($2000 was the highest at the time of this writing) were given by those who make their livelihood and profit from #BigFertility: surrogacy Lawyers, agency owners, and fertility clinics. A quick google search of the names of these top donors proved that in a few clicks.
Family Makers Surrogacy’s tagline is, “Changing Lives for Those we Serve.” The family of the woman who died had their lives changed tragically in service of #BigFertility. I wonder and hope that this death will cause Ms. Hammonds to rethink her business of being Family Makers, when sometimes surrogacy results in making orphans.
An orphan maker, who at the time of this writing, has raised a little over $21,000. Is that what this woman’s life is worth?

This is an absolute tragedy.

So that's their idea if making things "right" ? Set up a crowdfunder so other people pay up and a few big wigs in the surrogacy spin off businesses clear their consciences with cash and carry on as they were?

That poor woman and her family:(

Awful.

It's terrible. The USA has the worst maternal mortality statistics in the developed world, and surrogate pregnancies are higher risk than normal pregnancies. There's no knowing how many surrogate mothers have died or come to serious harm. Most surrogate pregnancies are subject to non disclosure agreements and the agencies hush up any deaths. As Jennifer says, the death certificate would just record the relevant pregnancy complications but make no note of it being a surrogate pregnancy.

In the U.K. all maternal deaths are reported and investigated and we have triennial MBRRACE reports which examine every reported death and consider factors that may have contributed - substandard care for instance, as well as looking at trends and making recommendations. I'm pretty sure any deaths would soon be reported in the papers, as was the death of Natasha Caltabiano.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-335871/Surrogate-mum-dies-giving-birth.html

I can't explain why but when I read the GFM appeal blurb it sent a chill down me, maybe it was just the blasé sum up of her life being all about the surrogacy and the happy families she created. It read almost like a office whip round prior to her going off rather than an acknowledgement of the actions that led to her death.

This is terrible.

I am presuming the GFM account was set up because there was no life insurance. Other than the fact of the surrogate pregnancy itself, that is the bit I find most shocking. Why on earth would they not have life insurance in place for these women?

Life insurance is something they should have as part of the contract - and it is very much a contract in most States, I think it's only Michigan and maybe one or two others that ban surrogacy but I doubt that will last long.

The other surrogate mothers who died who were also named in the article has babies who lived so the commissioning parents had their 'order' met, the surrogate mother delivered the goods, but one surrogate mother's family crowdfunded for the funeral costs as they were clearly broke and that's why she was having a surrogate baby, for money. She left behind a husband and 3 sons.

This anon woman doesn't appear to have a partner but there are few details. The daughter just lost her mum aged 16, I feel for her sons too but the daughter in particular is in my thoughts.

I hope they have somewhere to go.

$25 000 or even $45 000 is not much compensation for a woman who most likely had thirty earning years ahead of her. Why is this being crowdfunded rather than paid by the surrogacy agency that profited from her body or by the commissioning parents? Who is doing the scientific study on the relative risks to surrogate mothers of carrying a baby who is not genetically related to them?

It strikes me as being very strange, this.

If an agency employs someone to do something under contract, and that person dies from activity undertaken to fulfill that contract, how is it not covered by some aspect of employment or contract law? How is this not, say, corporate manslaughter?

How are things worded in military employment contracts, for example? Because that sort of thing seems the most comparible.