Surrogacy

[poliphilo]

A childless friend of mine is considering surrogacy. I know what I feel- which is "yeuch"; I'm less sure what I think.  To help me make up my mind my friend sent me this article from The New York Times.  The author has had two kids with two different surrogates, is awfully pleased with the supremely ethical choices she has made- and seems to believe- as rich people so often do- that the people she is paying are smiling at her because they love her. She also descends, towards the end, into nauseating babytalk. The article hasn't changed my feelings. If anything it has hardened them- but I don't like finding myself on the same side as the Pope.  Are my objections atavistic and patriarchal or am I right to trust my gut? 

Comments

[jnanacandra.livejournal.com]

Two people can find a thing unethical for wholly different (and even incompatible) sets of reasons.

Personally, I think surrogacy can be a fine and even beautiful thing. I know people for whom the act of surrogacy has been a sacred calling. But it is terribly vulnerable to exploitation in classist society. And as you allude to, the rich people paying for the service are often so blind to their privilege that they won't be able to see the inequity in the situation.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

My reaction puzzles me- and I can't entirely get my head round it. The woman's sense of entitlement annoys me, but that's not the reason for my qualms.

I'm open to the possibility that I'm wholly mistaken and in the wrong.