Womb for rent....it may not be as easy as it sounds

You have heard of rooms for rent ?  Jessica Szalacinski is a Nashville language teacher, married to a police officer, with a 12 year old son and she  has a womb for rent. She tells her story to NY Post.

“The 36-year-old language teacher is one of a small but growing percentage of women agreeing to “rent” their wombs to gay and infertile couples who want kids of their own. According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, 1,898 babies were born via gestational surrogate in the United States in 2012, more than double the number in 2004. Unlike so-called traditional surrogacy arrangements, gestational carriers have no genetic link to the child because the eggs are provided by another woman, usually an anonymous donor.”

She attributes interest to an  NPR news report about gay couples not being allowed to adopt or foster. So she decided to assist them by becoming a gestational surrogate. She tells of finding a gay couple online and after bonding with them  she agreed to carry their baby girl to term. The egg was donated by one partner’s sister and the sperm was from the other partner. She thought this experience was wonderful and she  was paid for her experience.

“Szalacinski, a regular speaker for the support group MenHavingBabies.org, agreed to become a surrogate for the second time to Brooklynites Art and Matt, close friends of Alex and David, and she gave birth to their son in 2011.”

The third time was not a charm for the surrogate who finds “pregnancy an easy process.” This time she entertained renting her womb to a famous and mega rich heterosexual couple who must be unnamed due a non disclosure agreement.

She started to get bad vibes when they said they wanted a boy and would use gender determining tests on five day old embryos to accomplish this. Then they insisted on using “sub par” eggs from a woman due to her good looks. The final straw was after they finally settled on two female embryos , but wanted to assure a singleton was born. This meant that Szalacinski had to agree to abort one of the babies if they both “took.” This was the final straw making her feel like her a commodity and she backed out of this intended lucrative  arrangement.

New York state currently bans commercial  surrogacy, but many high profile couples are showcasing their children born by surrogacy. There are many issues surrounding  this not only for the adults involved but the children.  I recommend the viewing the documentary Breeders produced by the Center for Bioethics and Culture.