US Paediatrician Attacks Surrogacy
By Michael Cook,
BioEdge
| 05. 03. 2014
Supporters of surrogacy often claim that on the whole, women in developing countries benefit from the system, as they earn years of wages from a single pregnancy. However, a paediatrician at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, in Minnesota, has published a blistering rebuttal in the
International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics. Jonathan W. Knoche writes:
On a psychological and philosophical level, the acceptance of international surrogacy requires an alteration of the view of a woman and the process of reproduction. The international market of industrialized reproduction necessitates the uterus to be viewed as a mere commodity—something distinct from the whole woman. Within this market-oriented mentality, the commodity of a womb is fungible (i.e. any one of them can be substituted for any other similar commodity, given that the quality and price are the same). Thus, a gestational surrogate is essentially seen as a glorified incubator. Carriers become commodities. To view human persons as parts or commodities primarily for our use and exploitation is dubious. No human being—or her parts—should be treated as a commodity precisely because we are...
Related Articles
By Alondra Nelson, Science | 09.11.2025
In the United States, the summer of 2025 will be remembered as artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) cruel summer—a season when the unheeded risks and dangers of AI became undeniably clear. Recent months have made visible the stakes of the unchecked use...
GeneWatch UK has prepared a briefing on the genetic modification of nature for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress in October 2025
The upcoming Congress claims to be “where the world comes together to set priorities and drive conservation and sustainable development action.” A major concern for those on the outside is that the Congress may advance plans to develop and encourage the use of synthetic biology in nature conservation. This could at first glance sound like...
By Marianne Lamers, NEMO Kennislink [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 09.23.2025
Een rijtje gespreide vulva’s gaapt de bezoeker aan. Zó ziet een bevalling eruit, en zó een baarmoeder met foetus. Een zwangerschap, maar dan zonder zwangere vrouw, gestript van zorgen, gêne en pijn. De zwangerschapsmodellen en oefenbekkens, te zien in de...
By Vuyile Madwantsi, Independent Online | 08.22.2025
Imagine this: a future where parents could choose their baby’s eye colour, height or even intelligence.
Sounds like science fiction, right? But it’s closer than you think.
Let’s start with a simple, human truth: most of us want healthy children...