{"id":2392560,"date":"2025-01-20T07:41:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T12:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/by-decriminalizing-paid-surrogacy-mi-commercialized-babies\/"},"modified":"2025-01-20T07:49:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T12:49:33","slug":"by-decriminalizing-paid-surrogacy-mi-commercialized-babies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/by-decriminalizing-paid-surrogacy-mi-commercialized-babies\/","title":{"rendered":"By Decriminalizing Paid Surrogacy, MI Commercialized Babies"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fby-decriminalizing-paid-surrogacy-mi-commercialized-babies%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2392560&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Assisted \u2062Reproduction and Surrogacy Parentage Act,set to take effect in Michigan in March 2024,decriminalizes paid \u200csurrogacy,making Michigan the last state \u2064in the\u2063 U.S. to do so. While the act is\u2064 portrayed as a means for\u2063 couples to achieve their dreams of parenthood, critics argue that\u2063 surrogacy often leads to the exploitation \u2064of\u2064 women and the \u2064commodification of children. Agencies frequently market \u2063surrogacy by appealing to women&#8217;s\u200b nurturing instincts, framing the surrogates as selfless \u2064&#8221;belly buddies&#8221; who merely lend their \u2063wombs.<\/p>\n<p>Anthropologist Kalindi Vora points \u2063out that medical professionals encourage surrogates\u2062 to detach from any maternal feelings\u200d toward the fetus \u200cthey carry,\u200b framing the experience\u2064 as\u200d a job rather than a profound connection. This disconnect, \u200dhowever, can\u2062 have emotional repercussions, leading to \u2064what some refer to\u200b as a &#8220;primal \u2062wound&#8221; when the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supporting-postpartum-moms-could-boost-declining-fertility-rates\/\" title=\"Supporting Postpartum Moms Could Boost Declining Fertility Rates\">mother-child bond<\/a> is severed at birth.Critics\u200d argue that surrogacy distorts \u200bboth the surrogate&#8217;s and \u200cthe intended parents&#8217; family dynamics, inserting \u2062a third party into a deeply intimate process that belongs to a couple.<\/p>\n<p>The underlying theme is that surrogacy may appear altruistic on the surface but can \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">involve critically important ethical concerns<\/a> regarding exploitation and emotional trauma for both the surrogate and the \u2062child.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/ombudsman.legislature.mi.gov\/documents\/mcl\/pdf\/mcl-Act-24-of-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Parentage Act<\/a>,&rdquo; which decriminalizes surrogate motherhood in the state of Michigan, is<a href=\"https:\/\/www.varnumlaw.com\/insights\/surrogacy-and-assisted-reproduction-act-passed-in-michigan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> planned to take effect<\/a> in March of this year. Michigan is the last state to decriminalize paid surrogacy, and some may say it&rsquo;s about time they &ldquo;catch up&rdquo; to the rest of the country.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo?fbid=954457103398529&amp;set=a.415568873954024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">One surrogacy agency<\/a> recently posted that &ldquo;choosing to carry a child for another family is one of the most profound gifts of love and compassion.&rdquo; On the surface, surrogacy would appear this way, as what could possibly be wrong with helping couples have children? It&rsquo;s only when we dive beyond the emotion-motivated surface that we can see surrogacy for what it truly is: the exploitation of women and the trafficking of children. <\/p>\n<p>Through coaching and advertising, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-bill-would-allow-women-to-sell-their-unborn-children\/\" title=\"Massachusetts Bill Proposes Legalizing the Sale of Unborn Children by Women\">surrogacy agencies<\/a> appeal to mothers&rsquo; self-sacrificial nature by feeding on their emotional motivation to heed the call to use their generosity to &ldquo;give back&rdquo; their gift of fertility to others. Surrogate mothers are often convinced that they&rsquo;re &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo?fbid=122154044792349894&amp;set=a.122107600412349894\">just<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=896765925818015&amp;set=pb.100064538480632.-2207520000&amp;type=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">babysitters<\/a>,&rdquo; carrying &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo\/?fbid=1021751276631453&amp;set=a.651722930300958\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">belly buddies<\/a>,&rdquo; and that they&rsquo;re simply &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=122118915554349894&amp;set=pb.61560496847135.-2207520000&amp;type=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">giving the child back<\/a>&rdquo; to his or her parents. The children they carried in their wombs, they have been convinced, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo\/?fbid=1027461599393754&amp;set=a.651722930300958\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aren&rsquo;t theirs<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=122130996866349894&amp;set=pb.61560496847135.-2207520000&amp;type=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">any meaningful way<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Anthropologist Kalindi Vora writes that &ldquo;through counseling and conversation, medical personnel encourage surrogates to see themselves as gestation-providers whose only link to the fetus is the renting of a womb imagined as an empty and otherwise unproductive space.&rdquo; Feeling natural attachment towards the child you&rsquo;re carrying does nothing to benefit the <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/europe\/2024\/08\/16\/shadowy-baby-factories-the-14-billion-surrogacy-industry-with-hidden-links-to-eastern-europe-canada\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">14-billion-dollar<\/a> baby-commodifying industry.<\/p>\n<h2>Appealing to the Archetypal Mother<\/h2>\n<p>Surrogacy agencies know that it&rsquo;s the appeal to fulfillment and &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox7austin.com\/news\/tiktok-video-inspired-bay-area-woman-become-surrogate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">greater purpose<\/a>&rdquo; that drives women to become surrogates. Kajsa Ekis Ekman stated that &ldquo;&hellip; when pregnancy is made into work, it is too painful to see it as a job. It must have a protective, concealing facade &hellip; even if the superstructure of the surrogacy myth is all about stating that the women &lsquo;are not mothers&rsquo; to the children they bear, these women cultivate the idea that they become <em>even more motherly <\/em>by giving up their children.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The archetypal mother is one who selflessly offers herself as a gift to the world, sacrifices herself to satisfy others, and identifies pain with goodness in the hope that something good will arise from her sacrifice. These women believe that the pain and sacrifice they endure is the whole point of surrogacy.<\/p>\n<p>Surrogacy also interjects a third person into the marriage union to assist in the very intimate aspect of child-bearing that is rightly reserved for husband and wife. The surrogate&rsquo;s own marriage and family is also distorted, as she&rsquo;s carrying the product of the non-sexual love of another marital union. This disfigurement is often recognized, and this is why surrogacy agencies try to combat this mindset by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JoyofLife2017\/videos\/1105841877871924\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">posting advertisements showing<\/a> just how wonderful the families of these surrogates think the act is.<\/p>\n<h2>Primal Wound and Microchimerism<\/h2>\n<p>While surrogacy agencies emphasize that surrogate mother and child aren&rsquo;t connected and that carriers are only &ldquo;babysitters,&rdquo; babies carried by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-conservative-pro-life-case-against-surrogacy\/\" title=\"Conservative stance: Surrogacy and its Pro-Life Concerns\">gestational surrogates<\/a> don&rsquo;t know that they aren&rsquo;t genetically related to the carrier. Babies are biologically wired to recognize their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.romper.com\/p\/can-babies-recognize-their-mothers-scent-the-answer-is-fascinating-19777646\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mother&rsquo;s scent<\/a> at birth, her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dundee.ac.uk\/stories\/mums-word-unborn-babies-respond-mothers-voice-and-touch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">touch<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/babyschool.yale.edu\/does-my-baby-recognize-me\/#:~:text=Since%20the%20maternal%20voice%20is%20audible%20in%20utero%2C,and%20they%20can%20also%20hear%20their%20mother%E2%80%99s%20heartbeat.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">her voice<\/a>. Severing the bond between mother and child at birth can lead to lifelong separation trauma, or what is referred to in the adoption world as the &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/exploringyourmind.com\/the-primal-wound-the-influence-of-our-childhood-traumas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">primal wound<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Adoptee and researcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.academia.edu\/21573668\/FINAL_COPY_Submission_to_the_Standing_Committee_on_Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs_for_their_inquiry_into_the_regulatory_and_legislative_aspects_of_international_and_domestic_surrogacy_arrangements\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dr. Catherine Lynch further states<\/a>, &ldquo;&hellip; removal from the mother at birth has lifelong physiological, psychological and emotional impacts &hellip; the loss of the mother&rsquo;s body at birth is experienced as a trauma which is felt at first as an inexpressible loss &hellip; and creates a lacuna of despair that never leaves the person despite a lifetime of adaptation and socialisation, and despite that fact that &hellip; the trauma is not consciously &lsquo;remembered.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Further, while surrogates are fed the idea that the children they carry &ldquo;belong to someone else,&rdquo; through the process of <a href=\"https:\/\/churchlifejournal.nd.edu\/articles\/human-beings-carry-remnants-of-other-humans-in-their-bodies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">microchimerism<\/a>, these women are forever connected to the children they carry. Microchimerism occurs when fetal cells cross the placenta and enter the mother&rsquo;s body, where they become part of her tissues. Given this fantastic knowledge, we can no longer say that gestational surrogates have no connection to the children. These children belong biologically to the women carrying them just as much as they do their genetic parents. We&rsquo;re not designed, from our very cellular level, to be severed from our mothers, and vice versa.<\/p>\n<h2>Financial Incentives<\/h2>\n<p>Appealing to emotions may not be enough motivation for every woman interested in becoming a surrogate, so this is where<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/watch\/?v=1237307060851174\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cherokee-nation-asks-jeep-to-drop-name-of-top-selling-vehicle-saying-it-does-not-honor-us\/\" title=\"Cherokee Nation Asks Jeep To Drop Name Of Top-Selling Vehicle, Saying It \u2018Does Not Honor Us\u2019\">financial incentives<\/a><\/a> come in. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conceiveabilities.com\/surrogates\/surrogate-mother-pay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Conceiveabilities<\/a> boasts being the highest paying surrogacy agency at paying up to $72,000, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pinnaclesurrogacy\/posts\/pfbid05JVLRJwRUy3Dv1jARA6WZh36CAaXZi9kVNpSufsgkHSfgWQeFP3knjHeC1zfsiWdl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pinnacle Surrogacy<\/a> claims earnings up to $65,000, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo\/?fbid=712394434238552&amp;set=a.469159128562085\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Carrying Hope<\/a> starts at $45,000. <\/p>\n<p>While surrogate agencies claim that surrogates &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reel\/1098585518497859\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">don&rsquo;t do it for the money<\/a>,&rdquo; the offering of payment only shines light on the transactional process of an already commercializing industry, as, of course, mothers aren&rsquo;t paid to carry their own children. Surrogacy also routinely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2013\/06\/wombs-rent-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">targets<\/a> poor and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SurrogConcern\/status\/1810188346196398406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">low-income women<\/a>, and women certainly are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo?fbid=10156588042753390&amp;set=a.10150111561013390\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">enticed by money on advertisements<\/a> even if they claim it isn&rsquo;t their sole motivation.<\/p>\n<p>There are no &ldquo;substitute&rdquo; mothers when it comes to carrying and giving birth to children because pregnancy is the first step of motherhood. These women are, in reality, biological mothers to these children. No matter how much the fertility industry tries to distort this reality to appease adults who feel that children are objects that they&rsquo;re owed, as opposed to gifts, surrogacy is the commissioning and human trafficking of children and must be eliminated to protect human rights.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Katie Breckenridge works for the children&#8217;s rights organization Them Before Us and is the author of the book <i>Silent Sorrows: Let&#8217;s talk about abortion, reproductive technologies, and adoption.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michigan&#8217;s new law decriminalizes paid surrogacy in March<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":828,"featured_media":2392561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/23341655664_f846738d61_k.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[48842,25866,48843,4601,48841],"class_list":["post-2392560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-commercial-surrogacy","tag-decriminalization","tag-ethical-implications","tag-michigan","tag-paid-surrogacy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/23341655664_f846738d61_k.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2392560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/828"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2392560"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2392560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2392564,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2392560\/revisions\/2392564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2392561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2392560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2392560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2392560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}