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Gynecologie, Obstetrique & Fertilite Jun 2009
Topics: Female; Humans; Infertility, Female; Mothers; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Risk Factors; Surrogate Mothers
PubMed: 19447665
DOI: 10.1016/j.gyobfe.2009.04.008 -
Women's Health Issues : Official... 1991
Topics: Catholicism; Ethics, Medical; Female; Humans; Pregnancy; Risk Assessment; Social Values; Surrogate Mothers
PubMed: 1822383
DOI: 10.1016/s1049-3867(05)80118-5 -
Global Health Action 2017Surrogacy is a reproductive practice that has been strongly marketed in India as a solution for childless couples. As a result, the number of surrogacy clinics is...
BACKGROUND
Surrogacy is a reproductive practice that has been strongly marketed in India as a solution for childless couples. As a result, the number of surrogacy clinics is increasing. Meanwhile, a global discourse on surrogacy, originating from a Western perspective, has characterized surrogacy as being exploitative of women in low-income settings, where poverty drives them to become surrogate mothers.
OBJECTIVE
This study explored perspectives on surrogacy from men and women in Assam, an Indian state known to be a low-income setting. Surrogacy arrangements in Assam are still uncommon. It can be expected that the dominant global discourses on surrogacy will be unfamiliar to the general population, and the objective was also to position the results within the divergent global discourses of surrogacy.
METHODS
In order to explore local views on surrogacy, we conducted individual interviews and focus group discussions with people from various socioeconomic groups in Assam.
RESULTS
Our findings reveal that people in Assam perceive surrogacy as a good option for a childless couple, as it would result in a child who is a 'blood' relation - something highly desirable for sociocultural reasons. However, the part played by the surrogate mother complicates local views on surrogacy. Most people consider payment to the surrogate mother contrary to societal norms. A surrogate mother is also often judged in a moral light, either as a 'bad mother' for selling her child, or as a 'noble woman' who has helped a childless couple and deserves payment for her services.
CONCLUSIONS
In order to decrease the stigmatization of women, a regulatory policy is needed that will take into account the complex understandings of surrogacy and perceptions of surrogate mothers in Indian society. In policy, the possible effect of the dominant exploitation discourse needs to be modulated by local understandings of this reproduction method.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Female; Focus Groups; Humans; India; Male; Middle Aged; Poverty; Pregnancy; Qualitative Research; Social Norms; Social Stigma; Surrogate Mothers; Young Adult
PubMed: 28604252
DOI: 10.1080/16549716.2017.1328890 -
Women and Birth : Journal of the... Jun 2015Traditional and gestational surrogate mothers assist infertile couples by carrying their children. In 2005, a meta-analysis on surrogacy was conducted but no study had...
BACKGROUND
Traditional and gestational surrogate mothers assist infertile couples by carrying their children. In 2005, a meta-analysis on surrogacy was conducted but no study had examined empathy and maternal-foetal attachment of surrogate mothers. Assessments of surrogate mothers show no sign of psychopathology, but one study showed differences on several MMPI-2 scales compared to a normative sample: surrogate mothers identified with stereotypically masculine traits such as assertiveness and competition. They had a higher self-esteem and lower levels of anxiety and depression.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
To determine if there is a difference in empathy and maternal-foetal attachment of surrogate mothers compared to a comparison group of mothers.
METHODS
Three groups of European traditional and gestational surrogate mothers (n=10), Anglo-Saxon traditional and gestational surrogate mothers (n=34) and a European normative sample of mothers (n=32) completed four published psychometric instruments: the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (empathy index), the Hospital Anxiety and Depressions Scale and the MC20, a social desirability scale. Pregnant surrogate mothers filled the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (n=11). Statistical non-parametric analyses of variance were conducted.
FINDINGS
Depending on cultural background, surrogate mothers present differences in terms of empathy, anxiety and depression, social desirability and quality of attachment to the foetus compared to a normative sample.
CONCLUSIONS
Environment plays a role for traditional and gestational surrogacy. Surrogate mothers of both groups are less anxious and depressed than normative samples. Maternal-foetal attachment is strong with a slightly lower quality of attachment. Surrogate mother's empathy indexes are similar to normative samples, sometimes higher.
Topics: Adult; Anxiety; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Depression; Empathy; Female; Humans; MMPI; Maternal-Fetal Relations; Middle Aged; Mothers; Object Attachment; Personality Inventory; Pregnancy; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Social Environment; Socioeconomic Factors; Surrogate Mothers; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
PubMed: 25487002
DOI: 10.1016/j.wombi.2014.11.006 -
Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) Jun 2011
Topics: Female; Humans; Object Attachment; Pregnancy; Surrogate Mothers
PubMed: 21599744
DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-536X.2011.00472.x -
South African Medical Journal =... Dec 2005
Topics: Contracts; Family Relations; Female; Humans; Male; Pregnancy; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; South Africa; Surrogate Mothers
PubMed: 16465353
DOI: No ID Found -
Archives of Disease in Childhood Feb 2021Surrogate pregnancies are becoming more common, but the law governing who can give consent following surrogate births is complex. Parental responsibility (PR) may be...
Surrogate pregnancies are becoming more common, but the law governing who can give consent following surrogate births is complex. Parental responsibility (PR) may be held by a variety of individuals, depending on the specific circumstances.We conducted a survey of paediatric medical staff within Health Education South West to establish knowledge regarding consent for a baby before a parental or adoption order is obtained. Our results showed that 19% of the 47 respondents answered all scenarios correctly. 43% of respondents knew that the surrogate mother had PR in all scenarios; however, 13% incorrectly assumed that either intended parent always had PR. Knowledge of other individuals who could provide consent in the scenarios was variable.Our survey revealed poor understanding regarding medicolegal aspects of consent in these complex situations, emphasising the need for more specific published guidance for primary and secondary healthcare professionals encountering these babies in the early postnatal period.
Topics: Female; Health Personnel; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Informed Consent; Male; Pediatrics; Practice Patterns, Physicians'; Pregnancy; State Medicine; Surrogate Mothers; Surveys and Questionnaires; United Kingdom
PubMed: 31937569
DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2019-318172 -
Bulletin de L'Academie Nationale de... 2014After first defining surrogacy, distinguishing between cases in which the pregnancy results from the surrogate's own egg or a donor egg, and examining the different... (Review)
Review
After first defining surrogacy, distinguishing between cases in which the pregnancy results from the surrogate's own egg or a donor egg, and examining the different configurations of male homosexual families, the authors outline French and foreign legislation and provide a summary of the literature and of French working group hearings. Arguments for and against lifting the ban on surrogacy for gay couples are examined. The main arguments for lifting the ban are the following: 1) the same-sex couple's desire to start a family from their own gene pool, 2) current obstacles to adoption, 3) the notion of equality between heterosexual and homosexual couples, 4) frequent recourse to surrogacy abroad, which is not only very costly but also leaves the child in a state of legal limbo on its return to France, and 5) the lack of access to therapeutic alternatives. Some arguments against lifting the ban are of a medical nature: (1) physical and psychological risks for the surrogate, 2) the fact that exchanges between the mother and fetus during pregnancy are more complex than previously thought (microchimerism, epigenetics) and never negligible, and 3) the physical and psychological risks for the child. Other arguments are of an ethical nature: 1) surrogacy may undermine the status of motherhood, 2) surrogacy is becoming a societal rather than a medical issue, implying a profound bioethical upheaval, 3) the increasing commercialization of the human body, 4) subjugation of women to men's desires, 5) the risks for the surrogate's own couple and children, and for the host couple, 6) unavoidable financial aspects, and (7) the risk of abuse. The aim of this study is to bring together all the factors potentially influencing the health consequences of surrogacy, for both the mother and the child, especially if surrogacy were to be legalized for male homosexual couples. Surrogacy raises issues far beyond purely medical considerations and is primarily a societal issue that must be settled by the legislator: Short-term and especially long-term physical and psychological risks, particularly for the child, are poorly documented. If it is decided to legalize surrogacy, then a rigorous, objective and strictly regulated program must be set up to assess the related risks.
Topics: Adoption; Allografts; Child, Abandoned; Commodification; Europe; Female; France; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Homosexuality; Humans; Infant Welfare; Infant, Newborn; Infertility, Female; Internationality; Male; Marriage; Maternal Welfare; Maternal-Fetal Relations; Parent-Child Relations; Pregnancy; Psychology, Child; Risk; Surrogate Mothers; Transsexualism; Undocumented Immigrants; United States; Uterus
PubMed: 26753416
DOI: No ID Found -
Best Practice & Research. Clinical... Feb 2019Women diagnosed with gynaecological cancer may face unwanted loss of fertility as well as all the other life-changing issues with which cancer and its treatments are... (Review)
Review
Women diagnosed with gynaecological cancer may face unwanted loss of fertility as well as all the other life-changing issues with which cancer and its treatments are associated. The decision to harvest and store gametes has to be made before commencement of treatment, and advances in these techniques have made this successful. Fertility sparing therefore must be discussed and offered at an early stage post diagnosis. Surrogacy is currently an evidence-based method of assisted reproduction, with mainly desirable outcomes for the commissioning mother, surrogate and child, without impacting on the cancer treatment and long-term survival. Surrogacy is therefore ethical as long as the autonomous rights of both the commissioning mother and gestational carrier are equally observed, they both have equal legal protection and due attention is paid to the short- and long-term welfare of any resulting offspring.
Topics: Female; Genital Neoplasms, Female; Humans; Infertility, Female; Pregnancy; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; Surrogate Mothers
PubMed: 30553717
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2018.11.001 -
BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.) Jan 1997
Topics: Criminal Law; Deception; Female; Humans; Jurisprudence; Surrogate Mothers; United Kingdom
PubMed: 11644900
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.314.7076.247i