Weird Gestations

Rent-a-Womb, Build-a-Child Technologies Harm Women & Children

Following the development of in  vitro fertilization (IVF), gestational surrogacy arose in the 1980s and has since given rise to an industry that markets itself as a way to make aspiring parents’ dreams come true. As nations redefine marriage, same-sex couples have been availing themselves of the “dream” of acquiring a family using this means.

There are two types of surrogacy, traditional and gestational, either of which can be conducted “altruistically” or as a commercial transaction. With traditional surrogacy, a “substitute” mother carries an embryo that has been made with her own egg, usually via artificial insemination. In gestational surrogacy, the woman carries a child that...