...With the advances in assisted reproduction technology (ART), such as surrogacy and in vitro fertilization, more people both inside and outside the traditional relationships of a biological mother and father have a chance to have a child. These families consist of single parents and also same sex couples. With same sex relationships, a third party has to be involved, which could be either a surrogate mother or a male donor. Unfortunately, there are still many people in society that are homophobic. Lesbian co-mothers are growing in population. ART has contributed to a significant increase in the number of lesbian and gay individuals choosing to raise children. Most lesbian couples obtain a child from either a past heterosexual relationship or by alternative insemination where the child then has two mothers and a male donor. People within society are concerned about this because it is not a traditional type of family. They feel that a child should have both a male and female figure represented in a family to make an ideal environment. Gay couples also have a hard time involving ART and children. One reason for this is because gay male couples have to go through both artificial insemination and surrogacy laws. The way that this usually works is that a gay male couple will find a woman who is willing to be a surrogate mother. The woman is artificially inseminated with semen from one of the two males and delivers the baby to the couple after the birth. One of the major problems...
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...Modern Assisted Reproductive Techniques Recently, the amount of people who are unable to conceive naturally have begun to increase. Therefore these couples have begun to look for other methods so that they can become parents. A lot of these procedures that can increase the chances of a couple becoming pregnant are subsets of a very common procedure known as in vitro fertilization (IVF). Most alternative treatments that are used as means to conceive are related to IVF or use in vitro fertilization as a part of their own treatments. Over the last century, the ways that people are able to conceive have changed drastically from just naturally conceiving. While there are multiple new methods of conceiving with medical assistance, there are many people who believe that using these unnatural means to get pregnant are morally wrong or that they are unsafe and damaging to everyone involved. In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) One of the more common medical procedures that couples undergo in order to have a better chance at conceiving, is In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority states, “IVF… [is] the fertilization of an egg (or eggs) outside [of] the body. Typically those who lean towards IVF treatment have been diagnosed with unexplainable fertility, have a blockage in their fallopian tubes, other methods of conception have not been successful, or if the patient is using preserved sperm or eggs. There are six steps in IVF treatment: the doctor will...
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...The free market is the center of debate of whether it’s fair or not to buy certain goods like babies. Sandel’s “Pregnancy for Pay” talks about a couple, William and Elizabeth Stern. They wanted a baby but couldn’t have one so they worked up a contract with Mary Beth, that said that they would pay her $10,000 dollars to have a surrogate pregnancy using William’s sperm, which makes William, the baby’s father. She would have also had to give up her maternal rights. In the end, Mary formed a maternal bond with the child and refused to give the baby up. The libertarians who support the free market in this case will say that “letting people engage in voluntary exchanges respects their freedoms; laws that interfere with the free market violate individual liberty” (Sandel, page 75) and there shouldn’t be any government interference. Also, the exchange should not violate anyone’s rights. According to this, she should be able to sell whatever she wants and the libertarians would also say that it’s her body and therefore she should be able to do what she wants. She even signed a contract. Contracts are intended to be followed, just like how the first judge said. Like the libertarians, the utilitarian also supports the free market based on their notion that there can be a deal as long as both parties gain happiness and none are hurt. In the pregnancy case, both would have gained something. The Sterns could have had their daughter and Mary Beth her ten thousand dollars but the custody was...
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...Ethical Dilemmas of Foreign Surrogacy Marek J. Piszczatowski Valparaiso University ¬¬¬¬ Ethical Issues in Advanced Practice Nursing Dr. Christina Cavinder September 25, 2017 Ethical Dilemmas of Foreign Surrogacy Medical tourism is a rapidly growing phenomenon that, over the years, has become a multibillion-dollar international business. The advancement of Assisted Reproductive Technologies and increasing globalization, has made international surrogacy a popular option of acquiring a child for infertile couples from all over the world. Foreign surrogacy is not only a new and filled with potential practice but also a subject of legal and ethical debates. The purpose of this paper is to examine ethical issues surrounding intercountry...
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...genetic mother. (Would you rather be a 'birth' or a 'genetic' mother? if so, how much?, 1994). The bonds a woman establishes with her child while pregnant is one that can never be replaced. If the majority of women would rather bear a child themselves for this particular reason; why is commercial surrogate motherhood on the rise? Some women are beginning to consider commercial surrogate motherhood as a better alternative than adoption. To enforce a contract on something that is so personal to women like labor and childbirth is not only ethically wrong but morally wrong as well. What is surrogacy? Surrogacy is when one woman bears a child for another that for some reason cannot do on their own. There are several types of surrogacy; Altruistic, commercial, genetic and gestatory. Altruistic surrogacy is when the person bearing the child is doing it for a family member or friend. Commercial surrogacy is when the potential parents seek an individual to bear their child and usually involves payment to the surrogate. Both altruistic and commercial surrogate mothers can be genetic or gestatory. Genetic surrogate mothers are genetically tied to fetus they carry (their egg with the potential father’s sperm if...
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...Wednesday, March 26) 1) Provide an informed and critical account of the various arguments surrounding the question of whether alcoholics (or other substance abusers, or individuals whose “lifestyle choices/behaviors” have resulted in organ damage) should compete equally, or not, for scarce human organs. Here you’ll want to draw on at least some of the positions defended by Moss & Seigler (“Should Alcoholics Compete Equally for Organ Transplants?”), or the many opposing positions in the online etc., literature, though you don’t necessarily have to limit yourself to those arguments 2) Comprehensively review the ethical arguments made for, and against, “surrogacy for hire” agreements. What are some of the ways the practice has been defended. What are some of the ethical criticisms of surrogacy (see much available online). Which do you think are the most convincing arguments? In presenting your own position, make an effort to respond to the claims of the opposition. 3) Many of the same ethical questions surrounding surrogate motherhood also appear in recent debates regarding other “reproductive technologies” (unauthorized use of eggs/embryos, research exploitation of desperate potential parents, consent agreements, “custody” fights over egg/sperm, freezing eggs, lack of review board oversight, etc.). Imagine yourself as a member of a national “Bioethics Review Committee” charged with making recommendations regarding these new technologies. Write...
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...PROJECT WORK ON “Surrogacy Motherhood” Under the Keen Supervision of:- Prof. Dr. M. Shabbir (Ambedkar Chair Professor of Law) Incharge & Chairman Department of Law, A.M.U. Aligarh Submitted by:- Faisal Ashfaq LL.M. (P) 13-LLM-20 GB1586 Synopsis * Introductory Remarks * Surrogacy and its Types * Necessity for Surrogacy * Hague Conference on Private International Law, March 2011 * National Guidelines for Accreditation, Supervision and Regulation of ART Clinics in India * The Assistive Reproductive Technology Regulation (Draft) Bill, 2010 * Socio Legal Issues * The Present Indian Scenario * International Perspective on Surrogacy * Conclusion * Bibliography Introductory Remarks The very word surrogate means “substitute”. That means a surrogate mother is the substitute for the genetic-biological mother. In common language, a surrogate mother is the person who is hired to bear a child, which she hands over to her employer at birth. According to the Artificial Reproductive Technique (ART) Guidelines:- Surrogacy is an “arrangement in which a woman agrees to a pregnancy, achieved through assisted reproductive technology, in which neither of the gametes belong to her...
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...achieve pregnancy. According to the CDC, the use of these methods has doubled in the last ten years. There has also been an increase in the number of successes based on the most recently collected data as at 2012. The current percentage of people born through ART (assisted reproductive technology) living in the United States is at 1% which, quite frankly, is a lot of people (Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), 2014). In the case of surrogate parenting, an agreement is reached typically between an infertile couple and a woman who is to carry a baby for this couple. There are two main types which are gestational surrogacy and traditional surrogacy. In gestational surrogacy, conception takes place by means of IVF (in vitro fertilization) which would mean that the surrogate mother will have no genetic relationship with the resultant child. In traditional surrogacy, conception will take place either naturally or artificially which would mean that there will be a genetic relationship between the surrogate mother and the pregnancy. Sperm and egg donation as the name implies is a practice in which sperm and eggs or embryos have been donated by a third party to enable the infertile individual or couple to conceive. The donors are usually screened before they can donate and are usually compensated for the donation. All these are various types of fertility treatment and have become more commonly used around the world, but they still raise some ethical concerns which will be discussed...
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...Lesson Eight Paper Assignment – Family The most interesting article I read from this section was “Coming to the U.S. for Baby, and Womb to Carry it” by Tamar Lewin. I really loved this article, because there are so many things to talk about with surrogacy, good and bad. There is also a lot to talk about pertaining to the cost, health, and legal aspects that have to do with it all. Before reading this article I was totally supportive of surrogate pregnancies, and I still am, but they raised a lot of good points against it as well. The biggest part of the article for me is giving anyone who is straight, gay, infertile, or in between the right to have a child. I fully support all of it, I think everyone should have the opportunity to start a...
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...Originally, I was completely against surrogacy. Much like the conservative Christians, I had viewed the practice as an ungodly way of manipulating the gift of life. The thought of someone allowing another woman to bare her child for her was just unfathomable to me; I feared that the precious bond between a mother and child would be lost. My perspective on surrogacy began to change as I got older. All I could think about was how devastated I would be, how terrified I am, to have a doctor tell me that I would never hear the words, “Congratulations, you’re pregnant!” If I couldn’t have them myself, I would want to explore the possibility of finding a surrogate to carry my children for me. I realized that surrogate births wouldn't change that parent to child bond at all. The only way that a parent to child bond could be changed is if people make the way that 3the child was born seem illegitimate, when really, it’s a miracle made at the hands of...
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...reproduction. Thus causing people who are eager to have children and have no hope other than these new methods and technologies forced theologians to re-examine traditional doctrines. God's standard for sexual morality has always been clear: As it has stated in Exodus 20:14 "Thou shalt not commit adultery”. Since the ancient times to modern times, God has commanded all of His people to stay pure and faithful before and after marriage. intimate relations are allowed only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully married. For that reason, intimate relations outside of marriage are out of the question. In order to stay pure, a person must refrain from committing adultery and fornication. This alone can prove that the act of surrogacy is a form of adultery even with the partner's consent since one of the couple is to be unified with a person outside of their marriage. The Catholic Church demonstrates that Human Life, from the beginning of conception to the oldest adult - is an unique "Gift from God" - made in His own image and likeness. As for surrogate parenting, The Catholic Church made it clear that "Techniques that entail the disassociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple are gravely immoral. Techniques such as donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate uterus, and many other more, violates the child's right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by...
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...Baby Mama 1 hour 39 minutes Rated: PG-13 Genre: Comedy Released: April 25, 2008 Directed by Michael McCullers Distributor: Universal Studios Technology is defined in the dictionary as “the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment.” Technology has maneuvered its way into the world’s simplest form of living, and has even presented itself in the genre of films writings as well. Today not only is technology used in the production of these films, but in many cases it has made itself part of the plot. Film writers have amplified, stretched, or even created many types of technology to draw their plot lines around, and the movie Baby Mama does just that. Baby Mama is a film that presents something as serious as reproduction and the technologies involved in that, and make it hilarious and understandable to your average audience. Baby mama is a romantic comedy film released in 2008. It was written and directed by first time director Michael McCullers, staring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Greg Kinnear. The main character in the film is Tina Fey’s character, Kate. Kate is an intelligent single 37 year old woman who’s desperately looking to have a child. She attempts adoption but fails due to the fact that she is a single mother. She then picks a sperm donor and tries in-vitro fertilization nine times but does not manage to get pregnant; she finds out that her chances of conceiving...
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...The Surrogate Motherhood Controversy POSC 450.001 Senior Seminar October 24, 2009 The Surrogate Motherhood Controversy Introduction “A surrogate mother feels like a flesh covered test tube during the entire experience. As the fetus grows the women is depersonalized and she become fragmented from the whole person –merely a vehicle for breeding babies.” There is a huge controversy of whether surrogate motherhood should be legal. This controversy has started huge debates worldwide. It has brought attention to doctors, sociologists, feminists, historians, and people of different cultures, races, classes and religions. The major overwhelming arguments is that the act of surrogacy should be illegal. The issues and objections surrounding the surrogate motherhood is that it is considered baby selling, finding the legality of its contracts, and the class of people, whether they are rich or poor. The other concerns are the traditional rights of the birth mothers, the psychological impact of these children who are born under these contracts. The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss and analyze the controversy of a surrogate mother. The paper will find the reasons of why women want to become surrogate mothers. This paper will examine the different viewpoints that have been in conflict for many years. The paper will reveal how some women chose to become surrogate mothers just for the money and that some do it because they want to help couples who...
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...and Legal Dilemmas of Surrogacy Christie Blackwell HCA 322 Dr. Nine Bell June 17, 2013 Ethical and Legal Dilemmas of Surrogacy Many individuals have a life plan consisting of college, marriage, and then children. After numerous methods of conception, many couples are still unable to conceive a child. A woman who enters into a contract with a couple, agreeing to carry and birth a child, then hand that child over to the contracted couple, who is often unable to conceive own their own naturally is considered surrogacy (Pozgar, 2012). Surrogacy raises many ethical and legal issues for all parties involved. Is it moral or immoral to enter into an agreement with a woman to birth a child for money? What are the legal rights of the woman conceiving or of the couple? Should the child be aware of the process in which he or she was born? Does the child have rights to access the confidential records of the process? These are a just a few questions that will be addressed throughout this paper. Discussed below is the history of surrogacy, the ethical and legal dilemmas that surround surrogacy, alternative solutions to surrogacy, and the potential effects and future implications of how surrogacy may be addressed. There are two types of surrogacy arrangements to consider. These types of surrogacy are genetic and gestational. Genetic or traditional surrogacy is where the surrogate mother contributes her genetic makeup to the offspring, whereas gestational surrogacy consists of the genetic...
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...people, mainly in medical and biological research. There are several ethical questions that arise during researches such as biotechnology (Veatch, 2011). This paper discusses Mary Beth Whitehead surrogacy case. The case study Bill and Elizabeth Stern could not bear a child because of Elizabeth’s sclerosis (Veatch, 2011). This couple in 1985 decided to pay Mary Beth Whitehead to bear Bill Stern’s child. Whitehead was paid ten thousand dollars. Upon agreeing, Mary and her husband, Richard signed a surrogacy contract. Mary was then inseminated. When the child was born Whitehead wanted to keep it. This resulted in a legal battle that saw a family court upholding Stern’s contract. The court approved Elizabeth Stern as the legal mother. The move was reversed bay New Jersey’s Supreme Court (Veatch, 2011). The court termed the contract as baby-selling. The Sterns were then given the chance to keep Baby M, in addition Mary Beth was granted strict visiting rights. Baby M at age 18 decided to cut relationship with Mary Beth by legalizing her adoption. Arising ethical questions From the case study, several ethical questions are left unanswered. Biotechnology and other biological researches have always rubbed some people the wrong way. This has prompted people to question some of the processes. Surrogacy frequently has been used by couples who cannot bear children. The Stern’s case is a perfect example. They entered into an agreement with the Whiteheads. The arrangement would see Mary Beth artificially...
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