Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Fertility Tourism in the News
Fertility treatments were not our method of choice for having a child, and I can appreciate, however slightly, the urge to have a child of at least 50% of a couple's genetic make-up. These procedures, and especially the "tourism" aspect of it, indulge the affluent fantasy that if a person has enough money, they can do anything. It's not buying children, but it's uncomfortably close, in my opinion.
This quote bothered me: "People will do anything for a baby. There're women out there who've hocked the house. So what's the big deal about taking your passport and leaving the country."
People won't do anything for a baby, or even a child. Hundreds of thousands of American children languish in the foster care system for lack of parents. Too few people do much of anything for these boys and girls, whose only fault was being born to parents who were unable or unwilling to care for them properly.
We continue to tell our daughter that most of her friends were born into their families, and that's a blessing, even though they weren't chosen. She's special because she was chosen by her parents.
I couldn't let this story pass without suggesting some people could be better off with special children, rather than affluent ones.
