I saw a two stories on the today show (one from the pregnant mother, and another from the the biological parents ) this morning about a woman who underwent In Vitro Ferilization, but was implanted with another couple's baby. This woman, Carolyn Savage, and her husband Sean, didn't want to abort the baby, so she is going to give birth in two weeks and give the baby to the biological family.
What would you do if you were in this situation? Would you want to raise the baby yourself or give it to the biological family? What would you do if you found out another woman was pregnant with your biological child? Mrs. Savage, who already has three children, has been told that due to health reasons that this must be her last pregnancy.
Personally, it's hard for me to say what I would think or how I would feel, because I can't even begin to picture myself in this situation. From an outsider's standpoint, I feel that Mrs. Savage is doing the right thing by giving the baby to the biological family, but this raises more questions. Do either parents have the right to say that the child is theirs? A person shouldn't be owned by anyone. If the families weren't able to talk it through and if the pregant woman didn't agree to hand the baby over, who should be one to determine who raises the baby?
As Americans, should a woman have rights to her children because she gave birth to him/her or because she is the biological parent?
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I think you raise a really good point and I agree with you that Mrs. Savage is doing the right thing in giving the baby to the biological parents. However, I feel like a person would only be able to make the decision that is right for them if they were actually in the situation- I don't know if I would be able to do the same. I don't necessarily think there is one right way to go about this. But looking in on this situation without experiencing it, when it comes down to who should raise the baby, I think the biological parents should have that right. Genetically, the baby is theirs and the birth parents haven't had the time to get to know the child. But what happens if you don't want to raise a child that's not yours and the biological parents don't want to raise a child they didn't carry? This situation could have very easily become a moral dilemma with no solution.
ReplyDeleteI dunno about giving up the kid being the right thing to do, necessarily. One thing to point out is that In Vitro Fertilization costs like 10,000$, so this woman gave a lot in order to have this last kid, and the doctors messed up. What a strange situation to find yourself in. After making the big decision to have another kid coupled with both paying the money and bearing the child, I think it's almost the wrong decision to give up the child. People take DNA donors all the time, and surrogate mothers have the choice to keep the child they are bearing if they decide they want to at the last minute (which I both understand, sort of like, and kind of dislike at the same time).
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't the wrong thing to give up the kid, either, I believe it's more of a 'choice' thing rather than a question of right or wrong. She didn't get what she paid for or planned on at all DNA-wise, and the other family didn't sign up to have their DNA used for the child she'd bear. And now either one family gets a child they didn't plan on having or a woman gives birth to a child she planned on having but didn't plan on being of someone else's DNA. It's a really unusual split, but I don't think there should be any sort of pressure to give the child to the biological parents just because of DNA. Parents in some ways do 'own' their kids when they're still minors, especially young minors, but that title of being a rightful parent is certainly not bound to DNA.
This is a very interesting topic. I think this is becoming a popular trend especially since science has come so far in the last 50 years. To me this also raises the question of genetically modifying an unborn child. People who can afford, can literally design its baby's genes and choose almost everything down to hair color and eye color. They're designer babies. To me that is absolutely ridiculous. Parents should be happy no matter what their child looks like. But in regard to your blog post, I think having someone else have your baby is much better and much more ethical than designer babies. I think it's a very good system for people who can't have a child of their own, or for the woman carrying the child, need a little extra cash. It sounds a little horrible when you actually describe it, but I think there are a lot worse practices out there.
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