by Jennifer Lahl
Legislative battles are heating up across the United States on the issues of surrogacy contracts and the regulation of assisted reproduction. If we are truly concerned for the welfare of women and children, we must oppose such practices.
On January 27, the Kansas State Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare conducted hearings on proposed legislation that would make surrogate parent contracts void and unenforceable in the state. For those who enter into such arrangements, the offense would be punishable by up to $10,000 in fines and/or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than a year. The bill mirrors the current law in the District of Columbia. The law in Michigan is even stricter, with fines of up to $50,000 and jail time for those who break the law.
During his testimony, Dr. David Grainger, a fertility doctor who opposes the bill and practices in Wichita, Kansas, stated that, as he contemplated his testimony with “the bill in one hand and my Bible in the other,” he realized that this bill “would have criminalized the most important surrogacy pregnancy this world has ever seen: the verbal contract Mary had with God to carry and give birth to Jesus.”
Dr. Grainger was not alone in citing his religious views in support of surrogate pregnancy. Woman after woman testified to being pro-life, married to a devout Catholic, or serving on her church board, all attempting to build up a religious ethos in support of surrogacy. One surrogate stated, “It’s an honor to share my body.” Another described how, as a nineteen-year-old single mother who “wanted a better life” for herself and her child, she completed a total of four surrogate pregnancies; the supplemental income from surrogacy allowed her to go back to school. These women talked about “the blessings of surrogacy” and “the gifts of God,” about being able to bring children into their homes through surrogacy and how the surrogate women were “angels” giving “the greatest gift of life.”
In the end, only three of us testified in support of the bill. The bill has since died in committee. No vote was or will be called. A self-described pro-life Catholic senator told me in a sidebar conversation that he could not vote for the bill because it would be political suicide.
Similar legislative battles are beginning to take place all across the country. Because of my expertise in assisted reproductive technologies, my background in pediatric nursing, and the documentary films my organization produces on these issues, I’m often called upon to testify. Despite changes in location, the legislative landscape seems to be consistently the same. The hearings often have moms with their babies in tow (curiously, I’ve yet to see an intended father testify). Last year in Louisiana, a state senator had photographs of his children, who were born via surrogacy, placed on the desks of his colleagues during the hearing. After all, who could possibly be against babies?
At these hearings you will often hear from the fertility industry: the doctors who have spent their careers helping people have children, the lobbyists representing RESOLVE and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), and, of course, the attorneys who draw up the contracts ostensibly to protect the involved parties. The intended parents are far and away the foremost concern in such contracts; there are few protections for the surrogates, and little to nothing that truly protects the children. Rarely will you hear from children produced through such arrangements, except for one courageous young woman who calls herself “a product of surrogacy.”
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