{"id":204048,"date":"2019-06-14T03:34:31","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T08:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=204048"},"modified":"2019-06-15T11:39:37","modified_gmt":"2019-06-15T16:39:37","slug":"surrogacy-increasing-convenience-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/surrogacy-increasing-convenience-need\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Social surrogacy’ on the rise in U.S. for reasons of convenience"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Surrogate parenting is not a new concept for those who want to be parents. Infertile couples have been using surrogacy for decades now, though pro-lifers have suggested that adoption is a better and more ethical<\/a>\u00a0option. But ethics come even more into question with the latest spin on surrogacy, termed “social surrogacy.”<\/p>\n

The Guardian reports<\/a> on this movement, which is growing thanks to a California law allowing “surrogates to earn a profit, and uphold[ing] the rights of intended parents over anyone else who is involved in the creation of their babies.\u201d The lavish Pacific Fertility Center on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles is known for its expensive stores and cars, and is now being hailed for its expensive babies, where if someone has the money, that someone can have a baby with few questions asked, thanks to Dr. Vicken Sahakian. As the Guardian explains:<\/p>\n

As diverse as they are, Sahakian\u2019s clients have one thing in common: their ability to afford his services…. \u201cMoney talks. If you have money, you\u2019re going to have a baby. It\u2019s sad, but it is the case,” Sahakian says….But immediately after saying this, he checks himself. \u201cIt isn\u2019t sad, actually \u2013 it\u2019s pretty happy. I believe in this type of science. I believe in family balancing, gender selection, selecting out abnormal embryos, using egg donors, sperm donors, this is what I do. I love what I do. The ultimate goal here is bringing happiness for someone.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Gender selection. Selecting out abnormal embryos. This is the social engineering of people<\/em>, of deciding who is worthy of living and dying. And now, he’s the go-to man if a woman is just too busy or can’t be inconvenienced to have a baby, the story says (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

Now, a growing number of women are coming to Sahakian for \u201csocial\u201d surrogacy: they want to have babies that are biologically their own, but don\u2019t want to carry them. There is no medical reason for them to use a surrogate<\/strong>; they just choose not to be pregnant, so they conceive babies through IVF and then hire another woman to gestate and give birth to their baby. It is the ultimate in outsourced labour.<\/em><\/p>\n

Does he have any ethical concerns about social surrogacy? \u201cI don\u2019t have issues with it,\u201d Sahakian says, smiling. \u201cIf you\u2019re a 28-year-old model or an actor and you get pregnant, you\u2019re going to lose your job \u2013 you will<\/strong>. If you want to use a surrogate, I\u2019ll help you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

So what do women like this think? None of them would talk for the story, according to the author, but Sahakian said, the attitude is, “If I get pregnant, I will lose my part. I work, I don\u2019t have time because of work. I model, I act, I look good like this and I don\u2019t want to disfigure my body.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0<\/strong>Virginia passes bill allowing surrogacy contracts to include forced abortion<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Some of his clients, he says, try to avoid the “stigma” of social surrogacy by pretending to be pregnant<\/em>, by purchasing “artificial, prosthetic bellies. A business called Moonbump<\/a> sells them, in various sizes and skin tones.<\/p>\n

Besides models, Sahakian’s customers have included “a woman who was campaigning for political office… If she wasn\u2019t out there doing what she needed to do, her election run could be in jeopardy, but she wanted to have a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

And one fertility specialist “estimates that up to 20% of the 100-200 clients she sees in her practice each year are there for social surrogacy, saying, \u201c[m]ainly it\u2019s women with careers that don\u2019t allow them the time, or the potential risk of being on bed rest… These are career women where it just doesn\u2019t fit into their schedule but they want to have a child. It\u2019s becoming more of an option, and if it wasn\u2019t so expensive, I think more women would do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sahakian says he’s gone from five to about 20 cases a year, and sees a rise in reproductive endocrinologists who he figures see the same rise. The cost?\u00a0 $150,000. Sahakian says, \u201cIf social surrogacy was more affordable, more women would be doing it, absolutely. There\u2019s an advantage to being pregnant, the bonding, I understand that, and from experience I can say that most women love to be pregnant. But a lot of women don\u2019t want to be pregnant and lose a year of their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Surrogate parenting is not a new concept for those who want to be parents. Infertile couples have been using surrogacy for decades now, though pro-lifers have suggested that adoption is a better and more ethical\u00a0option. But ethics come even more into question with the latest spin on surrogacy, termed “social surrogacy.” The Guardian reports on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":827,"featured_media":191975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[15,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n'Social surrogacy' on the rise in U.S. for reasons of convenience<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Surrogacy is becoming a more popular option for women who simply don't want to deal with the hassle of being pregnant, according to a California doctor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/surrogacy-increasing-convenience-need\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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