It's a growing concern. Find the country with open and friendly borders where you can get the services you need or want. Shop around for the best affordable prices. Grab a cheap flight and hop on a plane, tag on a vacation, and viola you get the child of your dreams! Many clinics around the world even promote themselves as conveniently located to major airports. Like in:
San Francisco
Mumbai
Newport Beach CA
Canada
Surrogacy is exploding in India.
Canadian girls come to America to sell their eggs since it is banned in their country.
Sex-selection is readily available in the U.S. for those wanting to order the birth of children by the "right" sex.
One Canadian paper writes this:
"Inside the sleek offices of Seattle Reproductive Medicine in Washington state, Dr. Paul Lin and other physicians often see Canadian couples eager to buy what isn't for sale in their own country: pregnancy with a donor egg."
Surrogacy Abroad Inc. advertises this website which boasts this:
"We are aimed at providing a right surrogate for you. India has been a target destination for childless couples. It is estimated that surrogacy treatment brings more than $450 million a year into India."
Not withstanding all the health risks involved with IVF, the exploitation of poor countries and poor women, by rich countries and rich people, what does this say about our world? I say we are "Trading on the Female Body". And that this is the newest form of human trafficking.
What do you think?
4 comments:
It sounds like a different form of prostitution to me. How sad.
I've got to say that I'm in fundamental agreement with many aspects of transhumanism - I'm a member of the WTA and largely in favor of biological self-determination. But in no way does the commodification of women's bodies represent freedom. Would these women be selling their bodies if they had other viable options for supporting themselves? This is not about reproductive freedom - it's about the exploitation of the poor by those with the money to procure children in whatever matter they want. Why aren't pro-life activists trying harder to convince couples who seek babies through IVF, surrogacy and egg donation to ADOPT? Or, assuming that couples will seek babies that are genetically theirs in any case (and they will), wouldn't it be morally preferable to grow babies in artificial wombs (as icky as that may seem) rather than using women in the developing world as baby factories for rich Westerners?
Humane tourism - Authentic experience to promote the locals: www.humanitour.com
www.humanitour.com, is a global Internet based travel exchange platform devoted to promoting local travel related businesses around the world - first and foremost in developing countries.
Humanitor aims to connect travelers directly, via no commission based middle man, to local business in the specific locations they wish to visit. Thus, leading travelers to a real authentic and truly unique travel experience. Humanitour enables travelers to experience the world through the eyes of its local people while contributing directly to those people, ensuring that tourist dollars benefit the local community directly.
Humanitour, is about giving opportunity to the local people, empower them, enable them to enjoy the fruits of tourism directly, get the publicity and cut all commissions on the way.
The First International Congress on Global Reproductive Tourism (Ausrtia, March 25-28, 2010)
Reproductive tourism is a relatively new phenomenon that occurs when aspiring parents travel from their home country in which advanced reproductive technologies (ART) are expensive and legally awkward to nations where the procedures are cheaper and legally more obtainable.
The aim of this conference will be to discuss the reasons behind the rapid increase in reproductive tourism, as well as outline its professional, ethical, legal and economic consequences. This will be discussed by experts who will address the current concerns raised by this new trend, as well as share their accumulating experience meeting with the needs of the international patient and the limitations set by mounting national regulatory restrictions.
The participants in this conference will gain updated knowledge on:
Why has reproductive tourism become such a popular option?
The need to protect the reproductive rights of patients in various countries.
Improving local access to advanced reproductive care in all countries.
Advancing ART regulation under international consensus.
Affordability versus quality assurance in global ART.
Means of promoting and marketing reproductive care services.
Ethical aspects of international travel searching for ART.
Worldwide gamete donation: fulfilling an undeniable need or a form of organ trafficking?
Cross border gestational surrogacy: providing opportunity or exploitation of the poor.
Legal aspects of ART in foreign countries.
Ethnic needs of immigrants and genetic testing.
Reproductive rights of non married and same sex patients.
Safety and technical aspects of long-distance shipping of fresh and frozen gametes and embryos.
for more info: http://icgrt.com/
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