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
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。
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。
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。
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
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
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