paper3-surrogacy and other artificial matters

8/12/2019 Paper3-Surrogacy and Other Artificial Matters

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Option 5: Surrogacy and other artificial ways to conceive

Over the last few decades, the world has progressed very much. The

developments have been made not only in the field of IT but medical science as

well. Bio sciences have progressed very much over these decades and the subjects

of genetic engineering and bio-medical engineering etc. have witnessed a new

horizon. Along with this development have come some issues which are

concerned with ethics.

Among these issues are euthanasia, cloning, organ donation, sperm donation and

organ donation etc. One of these issues, which has drawn the attention of global

media in the recent years is the case of surrogate mothers. There has been a debate

over what should be the legal status of surrogacy and what should be the moral

status. In the following lines well try to analyze the case.

Although the people who are up for surrogacy say that it provides a good

opportunity to the mothers who have fertility issues or cant experience the

pregnancy for any reason, to have their child. But it doesnt seem much valid to

me because if a mother has been infertile, it is so because the nature has made her

so.

If a lady is to become a mother, there are other ways available as well. She can

adopt a child from an orphanage, for example. Hence this argument doesnt make

sense in the favor of the surrogacy and is invalid totally. At least this is what

seems to me regarding this specific argument.


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Now let us examine some other moral issues related with surrogacy. Surrogacy

has been under severe criticism by several sections of the society in the recent

past. One of the objections raised on surrogacy is that it exploits the deprived

class of the society because those people who have stable financial conditions

would never be a surrogate mother.

Other issues involved are legal. For example, in many states and countries,

government ensures that a maternity leave is sanctioned to pregnant women. Not

only this, but other benefits are given as well in the name of maternity allowances.

The issue with surrogacy is that if a woman is going to have a child via surrogacy,

will she claim the maternity leave and allowances or the surrogate mother herself

will receive these benefits?

Surrogacy may create psychological issues for the child who is born through

surrogacy. The child born through surrogacy may have the difficulty to decide

that which of the two women, he should call her mother, if the surrogate mother

isnt doing it for profession and is related to the child or the child knows her

somehow or other.

Also, the surrogate mother may face the moral issues if she doesn t reveal the

society that she is doing it. The society may blame her for prostitution and thus a

bad name may come to her. Therefore surrogacy may give someone very little

benefit but the social, moral and psychological hazards of it are much more than

the benefits and hence it is both morally and socially unacceptable to me on the

basis of above mentioned reasons.


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Similarly, a recent concept has been introduced in the world quite a few days ago

which is called sperm donation. The method works by taking sperms from sperm

donors, and inserting them into the womb of any woman who wishes to

experience motherhood.

This concept like surrogacy has received much criticism as well. In fact, it has

been criticized more than the concept of surrogacy. The problem with this concept

is that the child is likely to have some disabilities or abnormalities. But for the

sake of discussion, let us assume that the child produced through this method is a

normal one.

Even if the child produced through this method is a normal one, the social hazards

of this method is so much that the idea doesnt remain neutrally feasible for a well

reputed person. The main problem with this issue is the fatherhood of the child

produced through this method although most of clinics which perform the

fertilization through sperm donations, keep the record of the sperm donors on the

regular basis.

Morally speaking, sperm donor is more or less equivalent to prostitution,

according to me. At least it is the view maintained by many of the Eastern

societies where the religion is the main stake holder of the society. Religion

emphasized that the only legitimate way to produce a child is the intercourse

between a man and his wife. Since sperm donation and consequent pregnancy

violates this concept, it points that there is a big no from the religious point of


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view and hence the same should be considered from the social and moral point of

view since all of these are linked together.

These days, some men tend to take ova from beautiful ova donors and prefer to go

for in vitro fertilization. In vitro fertilization is a method where the sperm is taken

from sperm donor (husband or some other donor), and ovum is taken from the

ovum donor and both are fertilized in some specific liquid in a controlled

environment in laboratory.

Now this issue has two aspects. If a man and his wife go for in vitro fertilization

since the woman can have some medical complications, the process seems

somewhat legitimate and justifiable because neither the sperm nor the ovum is

meeting with the counterpart of someone who you cant marry as per law or

religion.

On the other hand if a woman or man tends to go for in vitro fertilization from the

counter part of a donor, with whom they have not been married, this may legally

be alright but is religiously wrong and hence socially unacceptable as well.

Along with this very argument, the arguments which have been given above in the

case of surrogacy, under the legal discussion have much importance in this

method as well. The issues of inheritance will apply in both of these cases as well.

So, it is a big no for all these methods, morally, socially and religiously.


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References

Couser, G. T. (2004). Vulnerable subjects: Ethics and life writing. Cornell University Press.

van Niekerk, A., & van Zyl, L. (1995). The ethics of surrogacy: women's reproductive labour. Journal of medical

ethics, 21(6), 345-349.

Dunstan, G. R. (1986). In-vitro fertilization; the ethics. Human Reproduction,1(1), 41-44.

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