What is Wrong With Surrogacy?

Everyone who would love to have a child deserves one.

Like every other real-life issues, infertility is real. Alot of people are afraid to open up about their infertility issues for fear of being exposed to public scrutiny or criticism and that is pretty sad!

Infertility is not a death sentence. So, people who have been diagnosed or having difficulty to conceive should not see it as the end of the road rather they should seek professional help and learn the different options that are available for them to have their own children. 

Nowadays, intending parents can buy sperm / eggs or opt for surrogacy and there are various reasons to opt for this. Surrogacy can be a bit complicated sometimes (if not properly handled) it is not for parents who are NOT ready for it.

Though a few people do not just want the stress of pregnancy and labor but oftentimes the reason for surrogacy are due to health concerns. Choosing a surrogate can be herculean for intending parents but then the process is getting easier and better. A surrogate can be a friend or family member but mostly (these days) surrogacy is commercial and there are many platforms where surrogates and intending parents can meet.

There are different types of surrogacy, two majorly; traditional and gestational surrogacy. Traditional surrogacy is a method in which the surrogate mother is impregnated with semen from the intended father or sperm donor and uses her own eggs and it is not very common. In this case, because it is the surrogate's egg that is being used for the pregnancy, the surrogate is also the biological mother of the child but the most common type is gestational, a technique called "in vitro fertilization" (IVF) which makes it possible to gather eggs from the mother, fertilize them with sperm from the father, and place the embryo into the uterus of a gestational surrogate. The surrogate then carries the baby until birth.

Adoption used to be the most common option but all over the world, people are beginning to embrace surrogacy as a childbearing option. A-list celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Giuliana Rancic and (most recently) Gabrielle Union have all had their surrogacy baby testimonies.

There have been concerns of whether the baby carries a part of the surrogate and whether the surrogate can lay claims of ownership of the baby. Well...while it is not impossible that the baby may have gotten a part of the surrogate,the baby actually has the DNA of its real parents and with the right agency (where both surrogate and intended parents would have under-gone series of counseling and tests) issues of claim are minimal and almost impossible again, it also depends on country and laws.

There are countries where surrogacy is legal and countries where it is against the law but in Nigeria, there are no known laws for or against surrogacy which makes it a difficult venture. Whats common in this part of the world are illegal baby factories where mostly young girls are camped, impregnated and their babies sold to intending parents while they are either paid meager or left uncared for. 

Though some fertility clinics in Nigeria arrange surrogacy where surrogates are thoroughly tested and paid about a million naira (in total from the point where pregnancy is established till birth), it is unclear if this is protected by the law of the land.

There are also concerns bothering on religion as to whether surrogacy is a sin. I cannot expressly say yea or nay but I know that surrogacy can be traced back to the biblical days of Abraham and Sarah. 

Another question maybe if children born through IVF are normal. Though studies show that Children born through this process are at risk for high blood pressure, the same team of researchers in 2012, discovered that IVF had greater blood vessel rigidity at high altitudes.

Surrogacy is definitely an option that intending parents can explore and I do not think there is anything wrong with it.