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Beginning and Ending Life
I
Jniil recen tly
surrogacy
or surrogate mothering meant that the woman
chosen
to bear the child (the birth mother) also provided the ovum (genetic
su rrogacy ) .
Doctors artificially inseminated her with sperm from the hus
band of an infertile woman. The surrogate’s ovum established a biological,
genetic link between her and the baby. Previous court rulings, such as the
Baby M. decision in New Jersey, focused on such genetic surrogacies where
the birth mother is also the biological mother.
The cases of Arlette Schweitzer and Anna Johnson, however, involved
a new approach—gestational surrogacy (also known as genuine surro
gacy). In this situation, the surrogate carries the baby, but contributes
nothing to the child genetically. In both genetic and gestational surrogacy,
the child is given at birth to the couple who requested the surrogate’s help.
In both kinds of surrogacy, legal complications may arise. The surrogate
can develop a strong maternal bond with the life inside her, prompting her
to want to keep the child at birth. Justice Joyce Kennard, the dissenting
court member in the Anna Johnson case, and the only woman on the court,
argued that “a pregnant woman intending to bring a child into the world
is more than a mere container or breeding animal; she is a conscious agent
of creation no less than the genetic mother, and her humanity is implicated
on a deep level.” In Kennard’s view, the surrogate’s role should not be
devalued.
The Johnson case is just one example of how law, technology, theology,
and ethics intersect and overlap in the frontierland of new reproductive tech
nologies. And it illustrates what is often the case in medical research: tech
nology races ahead while law, theology, and ethics scramble to catch up and
develop standards to govern the new procedures.
Technological assistance in the process of conception and pregnancy has
accelerated rapidly in recent years, corresponding to the alarming increase
in infertility among those who desire to have children. The occurrence of
infertility rose almost 300 percent between 1964 and 1984. Researchers esti
mate that infertility affects up to 18 percent of couples in the United States,
with men and women contributing equally to the problem.
A number of factors help account for the prevalence of infertility. Men are
affected by low sperm count or blocked sperm ducts, possibly due in some
cases to chemicals such as insecticides. Women have blocked fallopian tubes
or scarred tissue in their ovaries or uterus, frequently caused by venereal dis
eases such as gonorrhea and chlamydia. Each year, more than three hundred
thousand women lose their fertility as a result of sexually transmitted dis
eases. In both men and women, stress apparently contributes significantly to
the rise of infertility, even if none of the physical conditions mentioned above
is present. And, because of the desire to pursue career goals before having
children, many couples postpone pregnancy until the middle or later thirties
when it is generally more difficult to conceive.