New York Times Coverage, Donation or Compensation, and More

New York Times Coverage of Jennifer Lahl,Breeders?, Surrogacy by Matthew Eppinette, CBC Executive Director The New York Times just published the third and final installment in a series of articles on surrogacy. This article appears on the front page and is titled, “Surrogates and Couples Face a Maze of Laws, State by State.” One of the strongest opponents of surrogacy is Jennifer Lahl, president of the Center for Bioethics and Culture in California . . . She sees the practice as rife with risk: Informed consent, she said, is not really possible in a relatively new field. So little is known about the risks of the hormonal stimulation undergone by egg donors and surrogates, she added. In addition, the emerging field of epigenetics is yielding new discoveries about how conditions in the womb affect a child’s later development. A quote from our Breeders: A Subclass of Women? that was featured in the first article in the series, “Coming to U.S. for Baby, and Womb to Carry It: Foreign Couples Heading to America for Surrogate Pregnancies,” was the New York Times quotation of the day: “I was crying. I said he has to come in; he’s the father; he should be here. He came in, he cut the cord. He took the baby. And that’s the last I ever heard from them.” HEATHER RICE, a surrogate who carried a child with a defect, describing giving birth over the biological parents’ objections. From breeders.cbc-network.org The second article in the series looked at surrogacy as an aspect of medical tourism: “A Surrogacy Agency That Delivered Heartache.” We are grateful that our work is getting such a prominent hearing. This would not be possible without our faithful supporters. Thank you. The “Ease” of Babies Outside the Womb by Christopher White, CBC Director of Research and Education “Making Babies Outside of the Womb Has Never Been So Easy” exclaims a new headline in The Atlantic. The article reports that one percent of children now born in the U.S. are conceived via reproductive technology in some form or fashion (IVF, sperm or egg donation, surrogacy, or a combination thereof). As the author notes . . .[ continue reading . . .] If You Ask Us, We Want Life! by Jennifer Lahl, CBC President That’s what demonstrators were chanting outside a pro-euthanasia conference in Chicago last week. Canadian anti-euthanasia activists traveled from Quebec to join U.S. groups like Not Dead Yet (NDY) and American Disabled for Attendant Programs (ADAPT) to protest for three days outside the World Federation of Right to Die Societies conference. The director of the Canadian NDY chapter, Nic Steenhout, said .. . [continue reading . . .] Surrogacy: Children of Dreams, Parents of Means by Christopher White, CBC Director of Research and Education A new book tells the story of an infertile couple that has children through Indian surrogacy services—but it glosses over the costs to egg donors, surrogate mothers, and children. Since gestational surrogacy was legalized in 2002, it has become one of the fastest growing industries in India’s rapidly developing economy. A recent World Bank report projected . . . [continue reading . . .] Our mailing address is: Center for Bioethics and Culture 3380 Vincent Rd STE HUB Pleasant Hill, CA 94523-4324