This is the headline from an article in the New York Daily News, November 11, 2014. At first, I thought this was going to be one of those sensationalized stories about surrogacy. But it is really a happy and positive story about two gay men in a civil partnership in the UK who want to have a big family. They are not wealthy and they are not exploiting the women who have willingly agreed to be their surrogates.
"To some people having three children at once is shocking — others may say it's greedy. But ultimately it's the surrogates choice as to who she wants to help," Bex [one of the surrogates] said. This is one of the most important quotes from the article as it exemplifies the choice that the surrogates themselves have made to help the couple, Luke Harris and Daryl Lee.
It is certainly unusual for a couple to have three surrogates at one time but it is not that unusual for a couple or a single intended parent to seek two surrogates at one time. Especially in light of the seemingly new surrogacy trend toward single embryo transfers.
Many couples arriving at surrogacy as the only option to have their children are interested in trying to conceive twins so they will have two children as the result of only one very costly surrogacy journey. However, it is important to seriously consider the risks of a multiple pregnancy. There is a higher risk of premature birth as well as a higher risk that the surrogate will need to go on bed rest. Just these two factors alone create high risk for both the surrogate and the baby in utero. Because of these risks, there are more and more reproductive physicians encouraging single embryo transfers.
It is refreshing to read of such positive success for surrogacy in the United Kingdom. This couple found their surrogates in the U.K. while many British citizens come to the United States in order to have their children through surrogacy.
As I always try to emphasize, as long as parties to a surrogacy arrangement enter the surrogacy contract willingly and voluntarily, have legal counsel, and all parties are treated with respect and dignity, there is no reason, in my opinion, to oppose surrogacy.