In the world of surrogacy, most people only see the pretty side of surrogate motherhood, especially among celebrities.  "Surrogacy is a fertility option for parents-to-be who are unable to have children of their own or for whom pregnancy would pose too much of a health risk.  Using a surrogate mother, a couple or a single parent can have a child using the sperm and eggs of their choice, either from themselves or from a donor, to have a child genetically related to them or a child with certain genetic traits" ("Alternative Options").  Among the conversations of the surrogacy process, most views in favor of surrogacy include how it is okay for those to use surrogate mothers in the most popular situations where women are unable to conceive due to infertility reasons or cases where there may be a homosexual couple that wants a baby that biologically belongs to them.  However, these positive outlooks on the world of surrogacy fail to look at the side of surrogacy that many people ignore or that outweigh the pros of surrogacy especially when there are alternatives. The greatest issues in the world of surrogacy are in the fields of ethics; legal matters; the physical, emotional, and mental toll of surrogacy, and how a lot of surrogacy situations can go wrong. 

Surrogate motherhood is unethical because it essentially is the selling of a baby and in many cases, surrogate mothers volunteer for it solely for the monetary reward in the end and not for altruistic reasons, especially in most third world countries. In the country of India, there was a documentary done on how the surrogacy process works in the Surrogacy House in a town of the country.  Many women that left their families to become surrogate mothers left for the purpose of the monetary compensation of their services.  Most of these women also expressed how much their families strongly disagreed with their decision to become surrogate mothers and some were even disowned for participating in the process because of strong beliefs and fear of family embarrassment (Wombs for Rent).  Not only do women in third world countries look for the monetary reward, but American women who are well off financially volunteer for surrogacy for financial compensation as well.  In the story of Jodie Hayes, a Savannah, Georgia native, she admitted that the money she would receive in return for carrying someone else's child would make up about "forty percent" of her motivation to participate in becoming a surrogate mother (Miller).  This goes to show that pure altruism that the world of surrogacy tries to exploit is not an attainable aspect. 

Biologically, hormones are released throughout pregnancy from the mother to the unborn baby for bonding purposes, so what happens to the surrogate mother when the baby or babies are taken from the surrogate mothers immediately after birth?  What happens if the surrogate mother decides not to give the child away and does she have the right to refuse?  What happens when the potential parents do not want the child anymore?  The surrogate mother, the surrogate mother's family, potential parent or parents, the surrogate baby, and maybe many others are at stake in this process.  Some may view surrogacy as unethical because of the attachment with the gestational mother, involvement with the gestational mother and identity of the child (Family Surrogacy).  Attachment with the gestational mother being self-explanatory, involves the surrogate mother becoming attached to the baby upon birth or during pregnancy.  Involvement with the surrogate mother includes the intended parents' level of communication with the surrogate mother and some intended parents carry on communication after the birth of the child while some completely cut ties with the surrogate mother.  Identity of the child can also be an issue upon the child gaining knowledge that he or she was birthed from a separate woman and identifying himself or herself as a test tube baby. 

 Many perspectives from lawyers and medical ethicists do indeed oppose surrogacy on the basis of ethics. Andrew Kimbrell who happens to be a lawyer and activist states that surrogacy, whether commercial or gestational, "is the attempt to commodify the act of child bearing and to commodify children. It is baby selling, pure and simple, which we have forbidden in all 50 states but under the guise of a surrogacy contract tried to legalize" (American Radio Works).  This meaning that surrogacy has been placed under a positive light; however, if one were to base surrogacy only on technicalities, it would be something that is obviously deemed illegal which would be the selling of a child.

In the scholarly article, "The Law of Surrogate Motherhood in the United States," author Carla Spivack makes a point that the world of surrogacy is said to be "in state of flux and confusion" especially on the legal side (Spivack).  Everything that could go wrong throughout the surrogacy process can tie into the legality of it along with the ethics and reasoning behind it.  In several cases, the surrogacy process does not go as planned.  This meaning the child that the surrogate mother is carrying could unfortunately be diagnosed with a mental or physical disability before delivery of the child.  For some potential parents of the surrogate baby, a disability is a deal breaker and in turn, they change their minds and legally leave the unborn baby parentless.  Also, there have been documented cases where along the nine months of the surrogate mother carrying the child, the potential parents end up divorcing and in the battle of a divorce, lose interest in their dream of a family and would legally leave the unborn child parentless, such as the case of Jaycee Buzzanca in 1995. 

John Buzzanca and Luanne Buzzanca used anonymous donors for their surrogacy process because they were both infertile.  However, one month before the surrogate gave birth to the baby girl, John Buzzanca filed for divorce.  Since they used anonymous donors, biology John Buzzanca was not liable for child support and Luanne Buzzanca was not the child's legal mother; no one was.  In this case, Luanne Buzzanca had to adopt the child.  In reference to the Buzzancas, psychologist Hillary Hanafin says arrangements like this should not be allowed because "it looks like cherry picking, like you're creating a child through a catalog (American Radio Works).  Through the perspective of Hanafin, choosing anonymous donors with certain traits that match the intended parents' preferences, is unethical as well and leaves the child with no genetic link.  In many cases, the surrogate mother delivers the child and decides not to give the child away to the potential parent or parents because along the process of carrying the child, the surrogate mother becomes attached and believes that the unborn baby is indeed her child.  Such a case as this was extremely popular in 1985 when "Baby M" was born from Mary Beth Whitehead.  After receiving ten thousand dollars, Mary Whitehead carried a child for a couple by the name of the Sterns.  Elizabeth Stern suffered from multiple sclerosis and knew pregnancy was not an option for her; therefore, her husband, William Stern, gave his sperm for Mary Whitehead to be inseminated.  After the birth of the baby girl, referred to as "Baby M" in court, Mary Whitehead returned the money to the Sterns and decided to keep the child.  Biologically, the baby was indeed half her child but the intended parents decided to sue.  The Sterns did indeed win the case in the best interest of the child; however, the courts argued that the surrogacy contract that was set in place between the two parties was "affront to public policy" and the payment for Mary Whitehead was "illegal, perhaps criminal, and potentially degrading to women" (Haberman).  

"Commercial surrogacy," in which the prospective couple pays the surrogate mother for her carrying the unborn baby, is actually illegal in Canada. Altruistic surrogacy, in which the prospective couple only pays for the surrogate mother's out-of-pocket expenses such as vitamins, medications, childcare, and maternity clothes, is accepted in Canada; however, this would still be considered the renting of a womb ("Surrogacy in Canada").  The instance of surrogacy contracts in itself between the intended parents or parent and the surrogate mother is controversial; so controversial that the national government delegated this decision to be made by the individual states.  In most states in the United States, "surrogacy contracts are either unrecognized by the courts or can be difficult to enforce" and in some states, paid surrogacy is illegal such as New York and Michigan (American Radio Works).  There is also the issue in many international cultures of: "who is the real mother?"  

In many cultures of third world countries, the real mother would be the woman who gives birth to the baby; however, biologically, the real mother would be the woman whose egg was used for the embryo.  In the scholarly article, "Iran's Experience with Surrogate Motherhood: An Islamic View and Ethical Concerns," K Aramesh describes just how surrogacy is ethical or unethical in the Iranian Islamic cultures.  Under one subset of Islam, Sunni, surrogacy is extremely forbidden because they believe surrogacy is introducing the sperm of a man into the womb of a woman to whom he is not married.  Shiite culture however believes the only unethical part about surrogacy is the monetary reward in commercial surrogacy and it technically is not forbidden because it is not explicitly stated in the Qur'an (Aramesh).  Just like the Shiite culture views on surrogacy, many people find loopholes around the technicalities of the unethical side of surrogacy.   

Most people fail to take into consideration the emotional or mental toll that this surrogacy process takes on the actual surrogate mother.  The director of the Center for Surrogate Planning, Karen Syesiou, turns down women who get pregnant seven or eight times because she believes they may have psychological issues.  This event of back to back pregnancy just for the fun of being pregnant is another controversy known as serial-surrogacy (Tesh Media Group).  Not only does back to back surrogate pregnancy take a toll on a woman psychologically, but it absolutely can bear physical problems as well.  Karma Daigle of Waterbury Connecticut loved the experience of pregnancy and upon her divorce, she turned to surrogacy in order to continue having children.  Her reasoning for becoming a surrogate mother seemed far-fetched but not only did she decide to become a surrogate, she subsequently had four children as a result of her decision.  These children happened to be born less than two years apart from each other with a baby girl named Zoe being born in 2006, twin boys Sebastiaan and Lukas being born in 2008, and Lucas Tomas being born in 2010.  Within her surrogacy contract, the intended parents were deemed excused from any medical problems Karma Haigle may have, even possibly death.  This unwanted scenario came to light when Karma developed preeclampsia in her last pregnancy which in turn left her with heart damage (James). 

Besides the physical damage that can be done to the surrogate mother by the act of carrying the baby, it is not the only damage that can be done.  In the article "Surrogacy Boom in Mexico Brings Tales of Missing Money and Stolen Eggs," the author Jo Tuckman tells about how there are plenty of surrogacy agencies that are not-so-good. These "evil" agencies are mainly focused in some cities scattered in Mexico, especially the popular state of Tabasco which is "the world's most dynamic new centre of international surrogacy."  Horror stories surface of "unscrupulous or mismanaged agencies stealing money and eggs, subjecting pregnant women to psychological abuse, and cutting corners on their payments ("Surrogacy Boom").  Not only are women being mistreated but there has been evidence to support that surrogates are used without "rigorous screening of their mental and physical suitability."  Because many couples from all over the world turn to Mexican surrogacy agencies for the reason that it is financially cost efficient compared to other surrogacy agencies, it is not considered as to why Mexican surrogacy agencies are so cheap compared to others.  A testimonial from a Mexican woman by the name of Nancy revealed that she was set to be the surrogate mother for a couple in San Francisco, California.  Upon her delivering her baby, she was sent home with nothing but medical bills and no baby.  The experience was so traumatic that she stated, "I just wanted to get my money, go home, rest and forget about it all" ("Surrogacy Boom").  Not only was the woman mistreated, but her statement adds to the proof of psychological damage that can be done. 

 In response to horror stories like that of Nancy, surrogacy has now been banned in the country of Mexico to international couples. Prior to being off limits, Mexico was a country that international gay and straight couples could use as an alternative to using surrogates within the United States because Mexico surrogacy was a lot more cost effective.  However, because of the terrible legal controversy between American-to-Mexican surrogacy programs, it has been voted that Mexican surrogacy is only available to Mexican couples ("Mexico Bans International Surrogacy").  Countries such as India are also trying to reduce the gray area of surrogacy by limiting surrogacy to only heterosexual couples in the country of India ("Surrogacy Boom").  While surrogacy is not being put to a stop, laws such as the ones in Mexico and India that are being put in place are a start to limiting surrogacy by cutting down on the unfortunate events that happen within the surrogacy world. 

Because the negative aspects of the surrogacy world do outweigh the claimed benefits of surrogacy, there are obviously the alternatives.  The most popular alternative to infertility would be adoption.  There are definitely "already-existing" children or children who are about to be born that need love that intended parents of surrogacy could definitely give ("Alternative Options").  In most cases of adoption, the adoptive mother or couple just cannot afford the care of a child and due to morals refuse to abort the child and in turn, painfully have to give up the baby for him or her to grow up in better circumstances. Seeing as how some intended parents of surrogacy use anonymous donors for their surrogacy process, there is no genetic link between their surrogate baby and them.  The same lack of genetics applies in the situation of adopting a new born baby and just like surrogacy, the intended parents could form a relationship and be a support system for the adoptive mother or couple that is going to give her or their child away.  Another option would be fostering.  Although intended parents may not have the option of being newborn parents, the need to be a parent would be fulfilled by giving a child or several children the same love by providing a stable and loving environment.  There is also the option of fertility treatments.  Many do not exhaust all of their options for being able to conceive with some medical help.  Such treatments can include in vitro fertilization, gamete intrafallopian transfer, and zygote intrafallopian transfer ("Alternative Options").  While surrogacy is now widespread and a popular alternative to infertility or not wanting to carry your own child, there are far more options that would fix the issues of ethical; legal; and mental, physical, and emotional opposition. 

