More care needed on overseas surrogacy

#952 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 31 Aug 2014.

A report just published in the Medical Journal of Australia has revealed that among those who engaged in overseas surrogacy, 55 per cent reported that their surrogate had a multiple pregnancy, 45 per cent of the births were premature and 10 per cent of the pregnancies had ended in a late miscarriage or perinatal death.

The report has raised concerns about the lack of regulation in overseas surrogacy markets which appeared to expose babies and the women who carry them to a higher risk of bad health outcomes, sparking debate over whether the law should be changed to allow Australian women to be financially compensated to become surrogates.

The desire of a couple to have a baby they can call their own is understandable.  But once we begin assigning a monetary value to babies, and renting the wombs of poor women to satisfy our needs, we have arguably crossed a line into dangerous ethical territory.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.