代孕-當給予生命付上妳的生命為代價

 詹妮弗·拉爾，CBC總裁於2021年10月26日

 由於我對代孕涉及的醫療、倫理和法律風險所做的宣傳和教育工作，我最近接到通知，另一名美國妊娠代理孕母死亡。 

莉迪雅·考克斯於2021年7月18日去世，享年33歲。她已婚，是四個孩子的母親。根據她丈夫特雷的TikTok資訊，莉迪雅一直想成為一名代理孕母，事實上，代孕甚至列在她的重要事件名單上。 

可悲的是，她在分娩期間去世了，這種罕見的情況叫做羊水栓塞。她為委託父母生了一個男孩，嬰兒倖存下來。

不幸的是，代理孕母親去世的故事很少被新聞媒體報道，讓大多數人相信代孕是沒有風險的，這些決定代孕的婦女是真正給予生命禮物的天使，或者正如一個代孕網站所誇耀的那樣，「給予生命的終極禮物」。 

然而，現實情況是，代孕比婦女自己的自然懷孕風險大得多。這一事實獲醫學文獻證實，在幾項重要研究中證明，代孕早產、低出生體重嬰兒、孕產婦妊娠糖尿病、高血壓和前置胎盤的風險較高。

 但是商業代孕常常把有(錢)的人與沒有(錢)的人對比。代孕費用在六位數左右，這意味著富人可以購買，低收入婦女往往需要出售或出租代孕 (子宮)。 

為迎合富人，一個加州代孕機構，鼓勵那些前往加州(尋找代孕)者可以採取「衝浪課程或去徒步旅行」或「如果遊樂園符合你的需求，海洋世界，樂高樂園，迪士尼樂園和環球影城就在拐角處。」 

不幸的是，代孕的後果沒有報告，許多死亡事件只是因為社交媒體發文或為死者家屬建立了GoFundMe帳戶才被發現的。例如，有一個GoFundMe帳戶的建立是為了為莉迪雅鰥夫和孩子籌集資金。 

我覺得怪異的是，是誰建立這些集資帳戶，誰是最大的捐助者。你可能會驚訝地發現，那些從這些婦女身上獲利的人(代孕仲介)是發起為去世代理孕母集資的人。

 在愛達荷州博伊西的代孕者布魯克·布朗（Brooke Brown）的案例中，她為西班牙一對委託夫婦代孕，卻與所懷的雙胞胎一起死亡，在西班牙所有的代孕都是非法的，她的GoFundMe是由她的"代孕姐妹"建立的。

 他們的目標是為布魯克的丈夫和三個兒子籌集1萬美元。到目前為止，他們還沒有籌集到7，000美元。代理孕母通常並不富有，對布朗家族的最高捐款來自那些直接從事我稱之為「生育產業」工作的人。

 過去的陣亡將士紀念日週末，還有另一個標題為「一場罕見的代孕悲劇」GoFundMe帳戶被設立，它提醒我，又有一位美國代理孕母去世了。這個帳戶是由在亞特蘭大，佐治亞州的代孕機構負責人阿什利·哈蒙德所設立

 致電哈蒙德的電話沒有回電。我的預感是，哈蒙德代孕機構安排了這件代孕，並覺得有必要為代理孕母留下的孤兒童籌集資金。

 我們從未被告知代理孕母的姓名或地址，也從未被告知導致她死亡的懷孕併發症。帳戶頁面說籌集了21，631美元。

 蜜雪兒·里維斯，加州代理孕母，於2020年1月去世，就像來自羊水栓塞的莉迪雅一樣。當你觀察可能導致羊水栓塞的風險時，你會發現許多在代孕中常見的相同風險，如子癎前症或剖腹產。 

顯然，羊水栓塞是一種罕見的情況， 但這兩個死亡確實讓我懷疑， 如果我們需要更多的研究來瞭解羊水栓塞在代孕的風險。另一位克莉絲托爾·威爾希特於2017年死於代孕相關併發症，但未予報告，只是因為社交媒體上的發文才被發現。 

深入查看為支援莉迪雅的丈夫和孩子而建立的GoFundMe帳戶，我發現籌集到的資金（本文撰寫時總共154，779美元中的11.5萬美元）有很大一部分來自三位「生育產業」行業領導者。

 該帳戶是由山姆海德，「迴圈代孕」總裁建立的。「迴圈代孕」被列為頂級捐助者之一，捐了兩筆各5萬美元(共10萬美元)。另一個捐贈1萬美元的捐贈者是約翰·韋爾特曼，他是「迴圈代孕」的創始人，也是專門從事生育法法律執業的律師。馬克·萊昂迪雷斯博士，生殖醫學協會和同性戀雙親的創始人、醫學主任和合夥人，捐贈5000美元中名列前茅。

 利潤豐厚的全球代孕市場預計到2025 年將達到 275 億美元。我們需要仔細觀察誰在獲利，誰在受到傷害，並追蹤資金的流向。如果有利潤可賺，就很容易對婦女健康的風險視而不見。

 如果婦女真正了解風險，她們會做出傷害自己的決定嗎？他們會冒著生命危險嗎？他們會選擇讓自己的孩子失去母親嗎？在他們決定擔任代理孕母時，報酬是激勵因子嗎？

 很明顯，如果這個行業被迫以器官捐贈等利他主義模式運作，它就不會存在。但我的問題是，當丈夫喪偶，孩子沒有母親時，這些經紀人、律師和醫生怎麼還能當做無事每天照樣去上班。我想這些女人若知道代孕會死，會對代孕說不。

 我們知道及不知道的死亡代理孕母：

 布魯克·布朗於2015年10月8日去世

克莉絲托爾威爾希特於2017年2月去世

蜜雪兒·里維斯於2020年1月去世

簡·多伊於2021年5月去世

莉迪雅·考克斯於2021年7月18日去世

  

When Giving the Gift of Life Costs You Your Life

by Jennifer Lahl, CBC President on OCTOBER 26, 2021

 Due to the advocacy and educational work I do around the medical, ethical, and legal risks involved in surrogate pregnancies, I was recently alerted that another U.S. gestational surrogate died.

Lydia Cox died July 18, 2021, at the age of 33. She was married and the mother of four children. Per her husband Trey’s TikTok message, Lydia had always wanted to be a surrogate, in fact, it was even on her bucket list.

Sadly, she passed away during childbirth of a rare condition called amniotic fluid embolism (AFE). The baby that she carried for the intended parents, a boy, survived. I spoke with Trey and you can listen to and watch that conversation here.

It’s unfortunate that stories of surrogate mothers who have died are rarely covered by the news media, leaving most to belief that surrogacy is without risks and that these women who decide to be surrogates are angels truly giving the gift of life, or as one surrogacy website boasts, “giving the ultimate gift of life.”

However, the reality is that surrogate pregnancies are much riskier than a woman’s own natural pregnancy. This fact is supported in the medical literature in several important studies that demonstrate that surrogate pregnancies have higher risks of preterm birth, low birth-weight babies, maternal gestational diabetes, hypertension, and placenta previa.

Yona Nicolau and colleagues, looked at surrogate pregnancies in one institution in California, a state that has very surrogate friendly laws, and found that surrogate pregnancies had high rates of multiple births (twins, triplets), higher rates of neonatal intensive care admissions, and longer hospitals stays for the birth mothers and the babies born, which all translated into higher medical costs.

It’s unfortunate that stories of surrogate mothers who have died are rarely covered by the news media, leaving most to belief that surrogacy is without risks and that these women who decide to be surrogates are angels truly giving the gift of life, or as one surrogacy website boasts, “giving the ultimate gift of life.”

However, the reality is that surrogate pregnancies are much riskier than a woman’s own natural pregnancy. This fact is supported in the medical literature in several important studies that demonstrate that surrogate pregnancies have higher risks of preterm birth, low birth-weight babies, maternal gestational diabetes, hypertension, and placenta previa.

Yona Nicolau and colleagues, looked at surrogate pregnancies in one institution in California, a state that has very surrogate friendly laws, and found that surrogate pregnancies had high rates of multiple births (twins, triplets), higher rates of neonatal intensive care admissions, and longer hospitals stays for the birth mothers and the babies born, which all translated into higher medical costs.

But commercial surrogacy often pits the haves against the have nots. A surrogate pregnancy can cost in the six figures, meaning it is the wealthy who can buy and the lower income women who often need to sell or in the case of surrogacy, rent.

Catering to the wealthy, one agency, California Surrogacy, encourages those traveling to California can take “surf lessons or go for a hike” or “if amusement parks are more your speed, SeaWorld, Legoland, Disneyland and Universal Studios are just around the corner.”

Unfortunately, poor outcomes from surrogacy are unreported, and many of these deaths are only discovered because of a social media post or because a GoFundMe account has been established for the bereaved family. Case in point, there is a GoFundMe account established to raise money for Lydia’s surviving husband and children.

I find it interesting to look at who is responsible for setting up these accounts and who the biggest donors are. You might be surprised to learn those who profit off these women are the ones supporting a crowd sourcing campaign.

In the case of Brooke Brown, a Boise, Idaho surrogate who died along with the twins she carried for a couple in Spain, where all surrogacy is illegal, her GoFundMe was set up by her “Surro sisters.”

Their goal was to raise $10,000 for Brooke’s husband and their three sons. To date, they’ve yet to raise $7,000. Surrogates typically are not wealthy, and the top donations to the Brown family came from people who directly work in what I refer to as #BigFertility.

This past Memorial Day weekend, there was another GoFundMe account, headlined “A Rare Surrogacy Tragedy,” that alerted me that one more U.S. surrogate mother had died. This account was established by Ashlee Hammonds, the head of Family Makers Surrogacy, an agency in Atlanta, Georgia.

Calls to Hammonds requesting comment were not returned. My hunch is that Hammond’s agency brokered this surrogacy arrangement and felt the need to try to raise money for the children left behind.

We are never told the mother’s name or the state in which she lived, nor the complications to her pregnancy that resulted in her death. The account page says $21,631 was raised.

Michelle Reaves, a California surrogate mother, died in January of 2020, like Lydia from an AFE. When you look at the risks that can cause an AFE, you find many of the same risks common in surrogate pregnancies, like pre-eclampsia, having labor induced, or undergoing a cesarean section.

Apparently AFE is a rare condition, but these two deaths do make me wonder if we need more research to understand the risks of AFE in surrogacy. Another mother, Crystal Wilhite, died in 2017 of surrogate pregnancy-related complications that went unreported, only discovered because of posts on social media.

Looking deeper into the GoFundMe account established to support Lydia’s husband and children, what I discovered was that a significant portion of the money raised ($115,000 of a total of $154,779 at the time of this writing) came from three #BigFertility industry leaders.

The account was established by Sam Hyde, the president of Circle Surrogacy. Circle Surrogacy is listed as one of the top donors, making two separate contributions in the amount of $50,000 each. Another top donor, giving $10,000, is John J. Weltman, the founder of Circle Surrogacy and an attorney who’s law practice specializes in fertility law. Dr. Mark Leondires, Founder, Medical Director and Partner at Reproductive Medical Associates and Gay Parents to Be, is next on the top donor list, donating $5,000.

The lucrative global surrogacy market is projected to reach $27.5 billion by 2025. We need to look closely at who is profiting and who is being harmed and follow the money trail. Where there are profits to be made, it is easy to turn a blind eye to the real risks to women’s health.

If women are truly informed of the risks, would they make the decision to put themselves in harm’s way? Would they risk their lives? Would they choose to leave their own children motherless? How much is the money they are being offered a motivating factor in their decision to serve as surrogates?

It is clear that this industry wouldn’t exist if it was forced to operate on an altruistic model such as organ donation. But my question is how these brokers, and lawyers, and doctors can go to work each day helping to give the gift of life when husbands are widowed, and children are left motherless. I imagine that these women would have said no.

To the women we know about and to those we’ve not been made aware of:

Brooke Brown died Oct. 8, 2015
Crystal Wilhite died February 2017
Michelle Reaves died January 2020
Jane Doe died May 2021
Lydia Cox died July 18, 2021

 

When Giving the Gift of Life Costs You Your Life

https://www.theepochtimes.com/when-giving-the-gift-of-life-costs-you-your-life_4062554.html

 

https://www.cbc-network.org/2021/10/when-giving-the-gift-of-life-costs-you-your-life/

 

取得  Center for Bioethics and Culture (CBC) (StopSurrogacyNow) 中文翻譯權