?How would you feel if in 20 years, someone wants to rent your daughter’s body to grow a human"?
As a single dad via surrogacy who blogs about my experience, and as the owner of a surrogacy consultancy practice, I?m no stranger to emails from people who are against surrogacy. But when I discovered the above one-liner in my inbox, I was angry, sad and overwhelmed, all at the same time.
First of all, my daughter is only two years old. A stranger asking about my toddler daughter?s womb, and what her reproductive choices may be in the future, is super weird and almost creepy. And second of all, as her father, what my daughter chooses to do with her body is going to be her decision?not mine.
Because I connect potential surrogates with parents-to-be, I probably do think about my own daughter?s body autonomy more than the average dad would. But ultimately, I think this type of email can only be described as surrogacy-shaming. It breaks my heart that anyone could see surrogacy as a negative, but they do: I get at least twenty judgmental comments like this every month in my inbox and on social media. I have a regular caller, from a blocked number, who keeps telling me that I exploit women?s bodies. A pregnant surrogate mom recently shared with me that a close friend likened surrogacy to “giving the baby away to a baby farm.” Others are quick to suggest adoption, when they have no idea how difficult and lengthy the adoption process can be.
I think these types o...