More good news from Europe: last month the Council of Europe’s Social Affairs and Health Committee voted against the draft report on surrogacy that proposed regulation of the practice rather than a full ban. This comes just three months after the European Parliament approved a resolution condemning all forms of surrogacy as “reproductive exploitation and use of the human body … Read More
The Feminist Case Against Surrogacy
Robert Oscar Lopez, PhD interviews Kathleen Sloan, board member for the National Organization for Women and a regular consultant for the CBC: Human biotechnology creates strange bedfellows. Although Sloan is a committed abortion rights advocate, she has also lent her voice to campaigns opposing human cloning and, most recently, surrogacy and third party reproduction. Even pro-choice feminists agree that we … Read More
Equality?
A few weeks ago I posted a video of Millie Fontana, a donor-conceived daughter of lesbian mothers. In her speech, Fontana touched on the imbalance of “equality” in the LGBT debate. Indeed, “equality” is the buzz word for this debate. Marriage equality. Family equality. Of treating people with equal respect for who they are as human beings. But what about … Read More
Third Party Reproduction vs. Adoption
When I re-posted this graphic from the Center for Bioethics and Culture (using data from this study) on Facebook someone objected to it, concerned that something like that might be harmful to her adopted son if he ever came across it. Causing him to feel shame since his parents had to pay money, as well. I understand her concern, especially … Read More
Human Beings Are Not Science Experiments
I never cared much for science in school. At all. And, yet, last week I found myself sitting in front of my computer for a day and a half listening to public workshops at the Institute of Medicine on “Ethical and Social Policy Considerations of Novel Techniques for Prevention of Maternal Transmission of Mitochondrial DNA Diseases” — AKA “Three-Parent IVF” … Read More
India, Surrogacy and Black Market Babies
Here in the America, celebrities, wealthy columnists and popular entertainment paint a smiling, rosy picture of third party reproduction, meanwhile the fertility industry has a dirty little secret. In the latest Vice for HBO documentary, Outsourcing Embryos, correspondent Gianna Toboni traveled to India to report India’s booming surrogacy industry where impoverished women are recruited to be “gestational carriers” for middle-to-upper-class … Read More
Audio: Three-Parent IVF and Euthanasia Updates
I was on The Mike Allen Show early this morning to talk about the troubling cultural embrace of 3-parent IVF and euthanasia http://www.reflectionsofaparalytic.com/audio/Mike-Allen-show-02-18-2015.m4a (Can’t see the player? Direct link to the episode here.) I didn’t get a chance to mention it on the show, but I encourage you all to sign this petition to stop UK proposals for germline genetic … Read More
Bioethics 2014: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network has compiled their list for the “Winners and Losers” in bioethics for 2014. Winners include: Kathleen Sloan, board member for the National Organization for Women and a regular consultant for the CBC. Human biotechnology creates strange bedfellows. Although Sloan is a committed abortion rights advocate, she has also lent her voice to campaigns … Read More
The High Cost of “Gender Disappointment”
It’s not what you think. A while back I wrote an article entitled “Reproductive Rights Run Amok“. This is precisely what I was talking about. Headline: I paid $50,000 to have a girl After naturally conceiving and giving birth to three boys Jayne Cornwill and her husband traveled to America and pay fertility doctor Daniel Potter to finally give them … Read More
The Difference Between Begotten and Made
Over at the Register, Rebecca Taylor comments on the recent surrogacy scandal from Thailand involving an Australian couple and a surrogate from Thailand who gave birth to twins, one of whom has Down syndrome. The couple took home the healthy baby girl, leaving the future of her twin brother with DS in jeopardy. The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano ran an … Read More