The plight of surrogate mothers in wartime is highlighted in an article published by the Atlantic, which shows how the practice of surrogacy results in the commodification of children. In other words, the babies are treated as commodities while the surrogates are required to accomplish their contract even in severe circumstances.
"The reality is that the interests of the surrogate and the interests of the parents don't always align. War just makes it that much more stark," the article said.
Ukraine popular place for surrogacy
Ukraine is the second-most popular place for surrogacy for foreign couples with approximately 2,000 to 2,500 babies born to surrogate mothers each year.
The surrogacy industry in Ukraine commonly promises higher-than-average pay for surrogates, which is three times more than the average national yearly salary plus guaranteed housing.
In wartime Ukraine, the baby of a surrogate stays a commodity that the parents are paying for while the surrogate mother is just a means to an end. The article emphasized the inclination to concentrate on the stress of the parents who "ordered" the baby with their preferences and desires taking the spotlight.
"We cannot have the surrogate in any danger. And whether they consider it danger or not, if the parents consider it danger, they’re going to be stressed out of their minds. And I don't want that to spill over to the surrogate," said Susan Kersch-Kibler, founder of a surrogacy organization.
Some of the surrogates do not want to relocate or, in some cases, to stay in safe locations but separate from their families. They want to make their own decisions about where and how they might continue to live in the next days and months.
Some people in wartime can focus all of their attention to family and the war effort, but surrogates cannot do that. Even if they defy pleas to go to places of safety, surrogate mothers carry their work with them, inside their bodies.
Surrogacy is full of danger for both woman and child
Experts in international surrogacy have long debated that the practice is charged with dangers for both women and children, according to a Live Action News report. Babies born to surrogates are sometimes abandoned, particularly in the case of babies born with disabilities, but they are always commodified since they are viewed as a purchased product. (Related: Reproduction industry risks: infertility treatments increase risk of stillbirths.)
Surrogacy couples and individuals who want children are willing to pay a considerable cost to have them, according to Marie Curie Fellow and scholar Daniela Bandelli.
"It is quite a risky activity both for the mother, who is at higher risks of pregnancy and birth complications than those who conceive naturally, and for the child, who is deprived of physical contact, including breastfeeding, with this person we usually call the mother. The key question is, are women aware of all the risks they face in participating in the surrogacy industry?" said Bandelli.
A few articles have been written about the fate of biological babies born or being carried by surrogate mothers. The war has aggravated the uncertainty facing the future of these babies.
Should a surrogate escape the Russian invasion, the baby may be born in another country whose laws may hinder the completion of the adoption. For example, if a surrogate gives birth to the baby in Poland, will that affect the biological parents' ability to claim the child?
The war in Ukraine is turning babies into orphans. Surrogate babies in Ukraine will also deal with trauma when they lose their birth mothers. Having completed their contracts, surrogate mothers have no additional role to play and are abandoned to make their own way in a nation ripped apart by war.
And there are children somewhere who will miss them.
Watch the video below to know how Ukraine busted a human trafficking ring selling babies to Chinese.
This video is from the ZGoldenReport channel on Brighteon.com.
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