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Should surrogacy be legal? Should surrogacy be legal?
Yes, surrogacy should be legal. Yes, surrogacy should be legal.
No. Surrogacy should be illegal. No. Surrogacy should be illegal.
It depends: surrogacy should be legal only under certain conditions. It depends: surrogacy should be legal only under certain conditions.
Surrogacy allows people unable to have children naturally to have them Surrogacy allows people unable to have children naturally to have them
Surrogacy is about a woman's bodily autonomy Surrogacy is about a woman's bodily autonomy
Surrogacy is a practical solution Surrogacy is a practical solution
Surrogacy is a natural way to have babies who are wanted Surrogacy is a natural way to have babies who are wanted
Surrogacy exploits women Surrogacy exploits women
Surrogacy is immoral Surrogacy is immoral
Prospective parents should adopt instead Prospective parents should adopt instead
Surrogacy has long-term negative impacts Surrogacy has long-term negative impacts
A child born to a surrogate is in an uncertain legal situation A child born to a surrogate is in an uncertain legal situation
Only altruistic surrogacy should be legal Only altruistic surrogacy should be legal
Debate Mini Map

Should surrogacy be legal?
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No. Surrogacy should be illegal.

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Surrogacy has long-term negative impacts

Surrogacy has long-term negative impacts upon both surrogate and child.
Jennifer Lahl
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The Argument

The people involved in surrogacy cannot always just move past it. The child may struggle to deal with their unusual origins, and surrogates might not appreciate how attached they are to the baby until it is born and will be affected long term.

Counter arguments

The majority of adolescents who were born from surrogacy have been described as feeling indifferent about the circumstances of their conception. Studies have also shown that surrogacy has no psychological effects on surrogate mothers from six months onwards.

Proponents

Premises

[P1] Both surrogate and child are affected long-term by the process.

Rejecting the premises

[P1] There is no evidence of long-term effects on either surrogate or child.

Further Reading

Zadeh, S., Ilioi, E., Jadva, V. & Golombok, S. (2018)The perspectives of adolescents conceived using surrogacy, egg or sperm donation, Human Reproduction, 33(6), 1099–1106 https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dey088 Jadva, V., Imrie, S. & Golombok, S. (2015) Surrogate mothers 10 years on: A longitudinal study of psychological well-being and relationships with the parents and child. Human Reproduction, 30(2):373-9. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deu339 Teman, E. (2010) Birthing a Mother: The surrogate body and the pregnant self. Los Angeles: University of California Press. van den Akker, O. (2017) Surrogate Motherhood Families. London:Palgrave MacMillan.

References

This page was last edited on Friday, 17 Apr 2020 at 11:03 UTC

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