'I don't think anyone has the right to a child.' Julie Bindel on why surrogacy is not victimless

The surrogacy industry becomes more popular, lucrative and fashionable by the day. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Elton John, and Paris Hilton have all publicly used surrogates, and discuss their decision openly. However, the practice has faced increased scrutiny and criticism recently, as some begin to ask whether the exploitation of women is baked into the process. Is surrogacy about freedom of choice, or does the industry present more questions than answers?

The Spectator’s deputy broadcast editor Natasha Feroze is joined by writer and campaigner Julie Bindel and former MP and broadcaster Miriam Cates.

[ankavoskuilen]

I agree: nobody has the right to have a child. And I say this as a woman who really wanted to have children but couldn't have them.

[johnelliott]

Exactly. Do animals do this?
It’s also messing, with nature which is not acceptable.

[dorthonian]

Children who are adopted are given away freely. I’m not entirely sure I see the difference between paying for someone to carry your child or adopting a strangers child free of charge.

[Antonia-tp]

Drop the word surragate mother is enough

[KevTheImpaler]

Depends how you explain it to your child. Also might depend if you keep some contact with the surrogate.

[BigQuads]

I am 69 and was adopted from an unwed mother. I have never sought out my birth parents but I would be delighted if I had grown up with one birth parent and the genetic material of the other. When you see the people who want children and can't have them what a gift to give a family. In the USA open adoptions are now the most common practice. The bought/sold issue is too neurotic to believe - another first world problem given attention by people with too much time on their hands. Might be better to mow an old persons lawn or make food for the needy or do something for your community than peddle this silliness. People become injured when you tell them they should be.

[joantaylor]

Would it not depend on the quality of love regardless as to whether a child is 'bought'.
Some children are 'free' to their biological parents and can come to untold harm and not felt they had been loved.
Just hope all children grow up within secure loving environments, regardless❤

[barbarareed]

In 2023, US women aborted 1, 026, 700 babies 😢

[jackjones]

Is anyone forcing to he surrogate mother? Why would she be so callous?

[FarawayJohn]

All children are paid for. Some parents abandon children one way or another, and some people are delighted to take the children on, and some of those children are eternally grateful they ended up with good people looking after them.

[CouncilEstateRach]

Nothing wrong with everyone who wants to be a parent being a parent but can we please have a mum and dad, preferably married who are havinv the chuldren.
Stop calling it selling children and call it by its name.its child trafficking

[ayethegreat]

When science is able to invent a womb, will the child then grow up to want to visit the mechanical womb? What surrogates do is gift families that cannot have children… straight normal people where a woman has some sort of a defect that doesn’t allow her to carry a child… several women capable of perfectly healthy eggs and healthy husbands to have children with are born without a womb… an accident such as an ectopic pregnancy harms their womb… multiple fibroids that do not allow a fetus to develop…. Are these couples buying Or just asking some help from someone who can grow their embryo… give them an opportunity to be a BUY/ SELL?? Come on please … do not be melodramatic.

[dirkh]

Children in traditional families, those with single dads and from surrogacy are at the same level of happiness. Just children with single moms perform drastically worse - more suicides, more mental problems, ... Single moms should be forbidden first.

[ep]

Not sure I agree.
All parents spend a fortune on their children. It doesn't mean they've been bought or sold.
Whether or not the child's upset about it depends how you explain it to them.
I heard an adopted man saying his new mother often told him how deeply loved he was and how lucky she was to have him in her life.
He said he was the lucky one for having such a wonderful mother, who had made him feel so loved and secure all his life.
And he was right.

[FC-PeakVersatility]

Where the harm lies is in convincing the child that they are abused.

[tomsmith]

I’m not a huge fan of same sex couple surrogacy, but I think 1) it should be allowed and 2) the surrogate mother should only be in the picture of the parents want her to be

[bernarddickson]

I find her mean spirited. She's continually judging other people's private life's.