Even though I have my name on a paper which advocates for surrogacy rights for gay men, I have become, through further reading, absolutely against the practice. I agree with Reem Alsaleem that there must be a complete ban, with heavy penalties for people who commission it (I'm undecided about the women who carry the child). I do worry how people will get around it - for example, there is the recent claim by Chinese researchers that there will be robot gestators in a few years. Whilst I think it is nonsense, any attempts will not proceed from the interests of the child.
I agree with you on all points and I did recently feature the terrifying Chinese experiment!
I have three 'sets' of friends including a lesbian couple and a single lesbian who adopted children. However I have to say that they all had nightmares with the adopted children...through no fault of their own I hasten to add! So adoption is not simple either but obviously surrogacy should still be banned in my opinion.
I agree. Adoption is a difficult case, but it does underline the reason that children should not be created for the purposes of adoption. We have so much information about the effects of adoption, and the difficulties associated with it for both the child and the adopters, and the likely reasons for it, that surrogacy should not even be contemplated. Especially since surrogacy commissioners often treat the children as commodities - videos I've seen of people with their surrogate child are painful, because the baby is often totally unresponsive. There is also a distressing tendency for the commissioners to refer to the mother as "it", if they make any mention at all. It is all absolutely awful.
Agree with all of that, Jeremy. In two of the cases I mentioned the children had to go back into care they became so uncontrollable!! Both those children were boys.
I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say that, but I've done a fair amount of reading. I've always had an interest in child development, so it has accreted over time, helped recently by genuine experts on Twitter/X.
Excellent discussion Jeremy and Dusty and I agree with all points. When I did some research into surrogacy some years ago, all I could find was stuff on the rights of all the adults involved in the transaction. There was nothing about the rights of the child or any concern about long term effects on the child.
I’m really pleased to hear Reem Alsaleem speak out and well done Gript. The video that they link to confirms my worst fears on the trauma that the child feels even before understanding what has happened. And I’ve also said before, a child may eventually come to terms with the reasons they were adopted but how will they ever accept that their mother profited by selling them.
Babies grown in pods or robots doesn’t bear thinking about and the thought makes me feel glad I’m old.
Even though I have my name on a paper which advocates for surrogacy rights for gay men, I have become, through further reading, absolutely against the practice. I agree with Reem Alsaleem that there must be a complete ban, with heavy penalties for people who commission it (I'm undecided about the women who carry the child). I do worry how people will get around it - for example, there is the recent claim by Chinese researchers that there will be robot gestators in a few years. Whilst I think it is nonsense, any attempts will not proceed from the interests of the child.
Hi Jeremy
I agree with you on all points and I did recently feature the terrifying Chinese experiment!
I have three 'sets' of friends including a lesbian couple and a single lesbian who adopted children. However I have to say that they all had nightmares with the adopted children...through no fault of their own I hasten to add! So adoption is not simple either but obviously surrogacy should still be banned in my opinion.
Dusty
I agree. Adoption is a difficult case, but it does underline the reason that children should not be created for the purposes of adoption. We have so much information about the effects of adoption, and the difficulties associated with it for both the child and the adopters, and the likely reasons for it, that surrogacy should not even be contemplated. Especially since surrogacy commissioners often treat the children as commodities - videos I've seen of people with their surrogate child are painful, because the baby is often totally unresponsive. There is also a distressing tendency for the commissioners to refer to the mother as "it", if they make any mention at all. It is all absolutely awful.
Agree with all of that, Jeremy. In two of the cases I mentioned the children had to go back into care they became so uncontrollable!! Both those children were boys.
You seem to be a bit of an expert on this 😊
Dusty
Funnily enough the film includes the adoption of Little Bear!
Dusty
I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say that, but I've done a fair amount of reading. I've always had an interest in child development, so it has accreted over time, helped recently by genuine experts on Twitter/X.
Excellent discussion Jeremy and Dusty and I agree with all points. When I did some research into surrogacy some years ago, all I could find was stuff on the rights of all the adults involved in the transaction. There was nothing about the rights of the child or any concern about long term effects on the child.
I’m really pleased to hear Reem Alsaleem speak out and well done Gript. The video that they link to confirms my worst fears on the trauma that the child feels even before understanding what has happened. And I’ve also said before, a child may eventually come to terms with the reasons they were adopted but how will they ever accept that their mother profited by selling them.
Babies grown in pods or robots doesn’t bear thinking about and the thought makes me feel glad I’m old.
I also agree with your points, TT.
Reem Alsalem! Talk about a voice crying in the wilderness!
Dusty