There were 26 babies born in Kathmandu in recent weeks to Israeli parents, mostly same-sex male couples, via surrogate mothers. When the earthquake hit Saturday, April 25, 2015, the Israeli families who were there, working their way through the bureaucratic process required to take the babies home, found themselves with no food, water, electricity or way to communicate.
There were 26 babies born in Kathmandu in recent weeks to Israeli parents, mostly same-sex male couples, via surrogate mothers. When the earthquake hit Saturday, April 25, 2015, the Israeli families who were there, working their way through the bureaucratic process required to take the babies home, found themselves with no food, water, electricity or way to communicate.
By Tuesday afternoon, all parents and babies, including some born prematurely who depend on oxygen tanks, had been flown to safety in Israel on Israeli government and medical planes. And with their arrival came a new spotlight on the long, complicated and expensive process that some Israelis — particularly gay couples — must go through to have children. Washington Post: How an earthquake highlighted the plight of israeli gays and their surrogate babies.
Not that we expect an earthquake to add extreme stress and danger to an already stressful and expensive process, but to demonstrate what couples, gay and straight, foreign or domestic must go through to have children through surrogacy, this story stands out. Of course, there are opponents of surrogacy who assert that surrogacy is an exploitation of women or who oppose it for other reasons. But if the gestational surrogates are treated with respect and dignity, provided with good medical care and fair compensation, what is the rationale for the exploitation argument? There may be circumstances where such accommodations are not made and in these circumstances, gestational surrogacy should be either avoided or significantly amended to provide for human rights and respect of all the participants in the process.
I have said it before and I will say it again: This is why surrogacy in the United States is the most ethical option to follow. The women who become surrogates come to the process voluntarily with compassion, knowledge and support. They are informed and they are provided with independent legal counsel. They choose their medical providers. They determine what their compensation requests will be, and they do so based on standards and with the help of their attorneys.
The Nepal story also clearly shows how intended parents go to great lengths and spend a great deal of time, effort and money to have their children. Obviously, the children born through surrogacy to these intended parents are wanted children. They will be loved and taken care of in ways that we hope all children will be. These children will have opportunities and education and be brought into loving extended families. This can only be a good thing for our societies and world.
