Let me start off by saying that I have always been pro-choice and support laws that allow people to have full reproductive rights, including safe and legal abortions. But it?s also a complicated subject and not one that I ever thought I would have to deal with on a personal level?especially as a gay man.
I remember a very heated discussion on abortion in my biology class back in university with a female classmate who was anti-abortion. She thought there was no justification for abortion ever, not even for women who were raped by parents or siblings. I couldn?t understand her position, both then (as an idealistic young man) and now (as an older and wiser parent).
It turns out that men sometimes have a say on abortion?and I don?t mean the male lawmakers who try to take women?s rights away. When my husband and I decided to have a child through surrogacy six years ago, abortion was an issue we had to think about. When finding a surrogate to work with, it?s important to find someone who shares similar beliefs and values. You need to think about what would happen if you discover abnormalities with your embryo or if the embryos split. Would you want your surrogate to have an abortion or use selective reduction, which means reducing the number of fetuses in a multiple pregnancy" These are real discussions that you need to have prior to signing surrogacy contracts. Everyone has different beliefs, but these are important issues that need to be dealt with early on. At the end of ...