Surrogate offered $10,000 to abort baby

[myswtghst]

I'm not sure about trigger warnings, but the article discusses abortion (with a dash of anti-choice rhetoric), reproductive coercion, disability & aborting due to birth defects, custody laws / adoption, and surrogacy / pregnancy. Please let me know if there is anything else I should include here (and Mods - let me know if you'd like this edited

Comments

[diosabellissima]

I want to lead with: I don't think anyone-- court or otherwise-- should ever have the right to force a woman to get or not get an abortion. With that said. . .

If this surrogate was so anti abortion, why in heaven's name would she sign a contract agreeing to terminate a pregnancy if abnormalities presented? That makes no sense to me. The other thing in this story that leaves a bad taste in my mouth is the declarations by the surrogate that the parents were trying to play God with regard to the termination. Is "playing God" by aborting all that different than "playing God" by creating a baby in a test tube and having it implanted by a doctor? It's an arbitrary standard to have, i think.

Don't get me wrong- it's pretty clear that the bio parents were trying to bully her at a point there. . . but I can't say I necessarily blame them. It's not justified, but I'm not sure I'd have acted any different in their shoes.

[mythrai]

likely for the same reason the parents thought a contractual clause forcing someone to abort would work - neither of them thought something awful could happen to them

[diosabellissima]

But the termination clause is a pretty standard one in surrogacy cases. If the surrogate was anti-abortion, I can't fathom any logical reason she'd sign a contract agreeing to terminate a pregnancy-- even if the chances are small, the possibility is there.

[mythrai]

but maybe she isn't/wasn't anti-abortion? nothing in the article says anything to that nature, simply that she didn't want to terminate this pregnancy

[diosabellissima]

Right, but then why would she agree to sign a contract agreeing to terminate this pregnancy if something happened? The point is that she could have been a surrogate for, say, a super Christian, anti-Abortion couple who would have never made that request of her.

My point is that something is fishy about this whole story. I don't know, it just doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

[mythrai]

because it never occurred to her she would have a problem with aborting before? no one can really say what will happen in the future

[diosabellissima]

People change their minds all the time, but how in heaven's name is it fair to the bio parents to not honor their wishes when you specifically entered into a contract with them, agreeing to their terms? I just don't get it.

[mythrai]

how is it fair to continue carrying to term a fetus you want to keep, but your partner doesn't? fairness doesn't enter into it; justice does.

[diosabellissima]

I don't think that's a fair comparison--- this isn't a regular reproductive situation, it's a business deal that happens to deal with reproduction.

[mythrai]

do we really want capitalism to be the model to shape our view of justice, because, imo that's worse

[diosabellissima]

Whether we do or not is irrelevant, the point is that these three people *did*.

[mythrai]

how convenient

[diosabellissima]

. . . I suppose it is convenient to discuss the facts surrounding this situation, as that's what this post is about.

[mythrai]

okay, let me lay it out for you: i don't care what the contract stated, because it violated basic human rights (the right to bodily autonomy) the fucking Pope could have signed it but it won't change the fact that it was an immoral request.

[diosabellissima]

So, I can't ever voluntarily cede some of my personal autonomy?

[mythrai]

you could? but you could still retract that at any time and i would support you. if I'm on the table to donate a kidney and I decide before they put me under I changed my mind, they can't just go ahead and sedate me