{"id":1123,"date":"2012-09-20T10:02:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-20T10:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/medical-professional-warns-of-risk-in-surrogate-donor-pregnancies\/"},"modified":"2012-09-20T10:02:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-20T10:02:00","slug":"medical-professional-warns-of-risk-in-surrogate-donor-pregnancies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/medical-professional-warns-of-risk-in-surrogate-donor-pregnancies\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical professional warns of risk in surrogate, donor pregnancies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Denver, Colo., Sep 20, 2012 \/ 04:02 am (CNA<\/a>).- Artificial reproductive technology is \u201cabsolutely\u201d the commercialization of the female body and especially harmful to children, a medical expert and documentary filmmaker says.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI am bold enough to go on record to say it's buying and selling children,\u201d Jennifer Lahl, founder and president of Center for Bioethics Culture told CNA Sept. 18.<\/p>\n

\tLahl said that although the argument could be made that surrogate parents or egg and sperm donors are being paid for their \u201ctime and effort\u201d and not the children they help produce, ultimately \u201cthere's money changing hands and there's children being passed around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI think today, we've just become more and more concerned in our desire to be more tolerant and more inclusive, we've become so intolerant and so exclusive, especially when it comes to children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAttempts to popularize such forms of medical technology, as seen in NBC's new fall sitcom \u201cThe New Normal,\u201d are \u201cdangerous\u201d because they \u201cdelude us into thinking there's no risk,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\tThe show, which focuses on a same-sex couple who use a \u201cdesperate and broke \u2013 but also fertile\u201d single mother to surrogate a child for them, touts the tagline of \u201cSurrogate mother, surrogate family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cHere's a young woman who's a single mom,\u201d who \u201cneeds money, here's these two gay men,\u201d Lahl said. \u201cThey want the child, she needs the money, everybody is happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHowever, artificial reproductive technology is not as simple as the sitcom lets on, Lahl said.<\/p>\n

\tAside from the known health risks, she said that with these methods have deconstructed men and women's bodies and reproductive capacities, which have in turn, \u201cdisintegrated the family to the point where the NBC show is saying, 'This is the new normal.'\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe show, which aired Sept. 11, has even received criticism from some secular media outlets as being overtly offensive.<\/p>\n

\tLauren Bans of GQ has described it as \u201cgay characters excusing a cotton bale's worth of cringeworthy, racist jokes,\u201d Sept. 4.<\/p>\n

\tWilla Paskin of Salon wrote Sept. 10 that the pilot episode left her unsure of whether one of the main characters and fathers \u201cwants a kid or a fashion accessory,\u201d when it is revealed that his desire to have a child is rooted in wanting, \u201cto have baby clothes and a baby to wear them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tLahl noted that because customers are paying large sums of money to produce a child \u2013sometimes as much as $100 thousand\u2013 they would like \u201cthe best possible outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAs a result, customers may have \u201cchildren made by design,\u201d since they can \u201cpick and choose\u201d which desirable traits they would like their child to have.<\/p>\n

\tAnother consideration that Lahl said people should take into account is the impression a surrogate mother has on any biological children she may already have.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhat does (surrogate pregnancy) do to a young child being raised by a mom who has babies and gives them away?\u201d Lahl asked, \u201cAnd who has babies and gives them away for money?\u201d<\/p>\n

\tLahl, who has 25 years experience as a pediatric clinical care nurse, wrote and directed the 2011 award-winning documentary \u201cEggsploitation\u201d exposing the dangers of the infertility industry. She also directed the 2011 documentary, \u201cAnonymous Father's Day,\u201d which features interviews with people who are the children of sperm donors.<\/p>\n

\tCurrently, she is in the pre-production stages of a documentary exploring the stories of surrogate mothers.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThere's really just a lot of people out there that aren't really happy about these technologies who have experienced them up close and personal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\tLahl said that one of her main concerns with egg donation is the lack of research on the long term health risks associated with powerful fertility drugs used on already fertile women and the danger of egg extraction on a woman's body.<\/p>\n

\tStudies on the impact of fertility drugs on an infertile woman have been conducted, but none on women who are fertile, such as those who are used for egg donation or surrogate pregnancy, she said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cOne of the realities is that this is a relatively new practice,\u201d Lahl said, \u201cand we've never done any comprehensive, long term studies on the long term effects on young women who are taking these drugs and undergoing these procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tLahl said it is \u201cappalling\u201d that the infertility industry is \u201cpreying on young, healthy women who we know need the money to undergo a procedure we know has some risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tMore safety and health precautions exist in for clinical trial participants than for egg donors or surrogate mothers, Lahl said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIf you look at how clinical trials are done and how human subjects are used in research in a new clinical trial, there's all kinds of protection in place,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Denver, Colo., Sep 20, 2012 \/ 04:02 am (CNA).- Artificial reproductive technology is “absolutely” the commercialization of the female body and especially harmful to children, a medical expert and documentary filmmaker says.<\/p>\n

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