Surrogacy has been practiced for thousands of years. In modern times there are specific moral concerns with the practice. If I were faced with my wife being a surrogate mother for another family, I could not be comfortable with it. Mothers are designed to connect with their children in ways which financial compensation or legal contracts just cannot take away. Aside from the effect surrogacy has on the mother, it also has an effect on Christ and the church which must be considered. In addition, the practice of surrogacy is baby selling, no matter how you look at it.
I would not be comfortable with my own wife being a surrogate simply because of the connection that a woman gets with a child. Regardless of legal contracts or financial arrangements, there are God designed chemical processes which take place between a mother and a child in her womb, which result in a connection that no one who has not given birth themselves can even pretend to understand. I could not live in a right mind, knowing that my wife was struggling in this way. I also believe that I would feel some sort of connection after witnessing my wife carry that child for that entire term. Still, I recognize that there are much more important things to consider than our own sensually based perspectives.
I’ve used the example many times that we must utilize the gospel when making decisions (see 1 Thes. 1.5). If a decision in any way discredits the gospel, then we can be certain that it is immoral. In the case of surrogacy, it is unlikely to be the first avenue that a couple would have taken in order to have a child. When a person has tried all available avenues and then looks to surrogacy as an option, I have to ask about the motive to have a child. Is the motive sensual or is it honestly to fulfill God’s command to multiply. “For if you live for the flesh, you will die: but if through the Holy Spirit you mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live” (Romans 8:13 KJV – simplified). In most cases, the motive is going to be sensual, living by the flesh, which makes the action sin. If surrogacy is sin because of the motive, then it is immoral. Because the situation is morally relative, based on the motive, it is unlikely in any form that it should be done as the inconsistency of the conviction could discredit the church and therefore discredit the gospel message.
Financial compensation is another problematical issue. In almost no place is the practice of selling babies an acceptable or legal practice. The attempts to make a moral decision in light of financial compensation are simply a way to justify what God has called sin. Commercial surrogacy has never existed apart from conflict. Even the unchurched can agree that there are moral concerns regarding surrogacy. This is why lawyers carefully write up contracts in order to make it appear legal. Legal or not, the process proves the immorality of the act since man is simply attempting to justify what God has laid on our hearts as sin.
Where I believe that everyone must consider their own motives in considering surrogacy, I don’t believe that it has any place in my own life. I also believe that regardless of the circumstances and the motives, there is a potential to discredit the gospel, which would make it immoral. In any case, financial compensation should never be considered as it is illegal to sell babies and any attempt to justify the practice is justifying sin. The major issue regarding surrogacy is man’s inability to accept the life circumstances which God has given.
Image Credits: omar_franc, sxc.hu
Reproductive Technology: Surrogate Motherhood
