I recently learned about the deeply moving story of the mother of a 2-grade pupil at the school where I am deputy principal, who had recently become a surrogate mother. Maybe because I have an adopted child myself, a 5 year old boy from Haiti, it struck a chord. This woman is a poor white Afrikaner from the suburbs of the big city, someone who has
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And there, I think, is the key difference. It's a pretty big divide in a lot of walks of life between here and there.
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The example given violates one of the basic stipulations of a US surrogate mother: to be financially-stable. A woman who uses surrogacy as a way to make ends meet is not an ideal surrogate mother. There has to be some motive other than monetary reward, even if it's just deriving enjoyment from pregnancy, to ensure that the woman is not being degraded or using her body for monetary means.
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We could say that it has been a non-issue in South Africa. It is an issue most anywhere else. I said as much in my story. The part that I agree with, and which I see as the main source of problem here, is indeed,
There has to be some motive other than monetary reward
Which wasn't the case.
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I agree that there should be a very clear set of rules to oversee the whole process, ones that take the interests of all sides in mind. Otherwise, the serious risks would remain, especially the child and the surrogate mother.
Unfortunately, in most cases whenever these considerations are being made, too often emotions rule rather than sober thought. And people have already taken firm stances which they refuse to review under any circumstances, be it for cultural, ethical or most often religious reasons.
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