The New York Times has an article about surrogacy in today’s health section, pegged to Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s use of a surrogate to have their just-born twins, Marion and Tabitha. Of course this does not eclipse the most famous Times piece about surrogacy-Alex Kuczynski’s deliciously self-absorbed tale from last year of using a surrogate, “Her Body, My Baby.” But both pieces have in common that they focus on positive tales of surrogacy.
The new piece glosses gently over the negatives (“Surrogate pregnancies don’t always blossom into lasting friendships, of course, and many people consider the process repugnant”) but doesn’t really talk to anyone who actually had a negative experience with surrogacy. I fear that the women who become surrogates-who are often less educated than the women paying for the womb space-and have bad experiences are not being given enough of a voice. This is something that is so physically and emotionally complicated, I imagine that for these “gestational vessels” things are not always sunshine and lollies and warm altruistic feelings.
