Sunday, December 30, 2007

Anything to make a buck.....

Months ago I read an investigative report in Marie Claire magazine about the booming surrogacy industry in India and this weekend it actually made the mainstream news.Infertile couples all over the world are paying poor women in India to carry a child conceived with their sperm and egg via IVF and then implanted into the surrogate.Surrogacy is often a last resort for childless couples and invokes alot of controversy,but it is still legal in most countries to "rent a womb".Proponents point out that the women are paid on average about 5 thousand dollars to carry the baby and they are helping childless couples become parents but it is not all roses and wine...It borders on unethical exploitation and opponents fear "baby farm" operations cropping up in other poverty stricken regions of the world.
There are so many unwanted and neglected children already on this earth who need good loving homes and families for people to start outsourcing pregnancy to India like a part-time job.The thousands of dollars these people spend going to India and paying a surrogate could be better used to adopt a child in need,and providing for that childs upbringing and education.It could be donated to March of Dimes to help those little babies already here struggling to survive.Just because you aren't biologically related to an adopted child doesn't mean you cannot be a "real" family.

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