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May 27, 2005
The World of Surrogacy
In their best non-judgmental way they report, we wonder -- the New York Times on women who bear children for gay couples. Specificially male couples. There's a woman reported who did one for a lesbian couple but didn't like them. That didn't stop her from "surrogating" again.
The typical surrogate, according to the Center for Surrogate Parenting, is a woman of 21 to 37, who has had two children and 13 years of formal education. In many cases, she is motivated by a desire to be pregnant, as well as by a desire for attention.Working with gay couples, psychologists say, minimizes the need for a certain kind of emotional vigilance that can displace the surrogate's own needs from center stage. "Surrogate mothers who work with heterosexual couples need to be incredibly sensitive to the loss and trauma that the infertile woman has suffered," Dr. Hanafin said.
Some surrogates also say they find the sense of defiance in providing gay couples with children meaningful.
Here's a weird side effect of surrogacy:
And Ms. Buras remains committed, and plans to return for another attempt in June, despite the limitations their efforts have placed on her intimate life. According to her contract, Ms. Buras cannot have sex with her husband from one month before the transfer to one month after. Though her husband has been very supportive, she explained, "I can't say that it doesn't bother him, because it does."So could her husband sue the gay couple for alienatin of his conjugal rights? That's 8 months of their married life (she's tried three times already and is gearing up for a fourth) that they are not having sex in order that . . . . The world is a very odd place.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at May 27, 2005 7:25 AM