A recent post at Breakpoint— From Obergefell to Surrogacy —struck me for how powerfully it points to a lamentable change in our culture and laws, a change motivated by “compassion.” In this case, compassion towards infertile couples.
Who of us can argue against being compassionate to a couple who wants to have and care for children, but cannot?
Surely there are situations where a woman cannot carry her child to term. A couple in such a state would benefit from surrogacy – that is, a child created by a husband and wife is carried to term by another woman because the biological mother cannot for physical reasons. But the Breakpoint story is not about such a case.
The backdrop of a new law in the state of Washington is commercial surrogacy. That is, a child is intentionally created by a woman (or two woman if one is the egg donor and the other is the surrogate) for the purpose of giving the child away. Much of the world, including UNICEF and UNAIDS, would label this child an orphan, a maternal orphan, to be more precise. While there are many situations in which a biological mother cannot raise her own child, the idea of losing one’s biological mother or not being raised and cared for by her is not our wish for any child.
Yet, here in the name of compassion for adults who want at least a 50% biological child, we are intentionally creating maternal orphans like produce in the store. Yes, we can argue they will be loved and cared for by the adults who raise them, but if being loved and cared for by your biological mother is a good thing in life – that will never be an option for these children. They were intentionally created to be maternal orphans.
Where is our compassion for this child?
Does not every child have the inherent human right to know and be nurtured by her biological mother? Not a guarantee, of course, but a right. In other words, the world acknowledges the wisdom of some form of open adoption for the well-being of the child. But this is different. Now we are passing a law, in the name of “compassion,” that creates a maternal orphan from birth.
Many people in our culture are marching for justice. Where is the justice in this law? Does it not commit a profound injustice against children from birth?
Writer Brandon McGinley has penned a gripping treatment of this very subject through the true story of the first 20 months of such a child: HER NAME IS MONROE CHRISTINE. This gripping account indicates where this trajectory could take us.
God have mercy on our children. God have mercy on us.
- Dwight Vogt
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