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Strange Foes: Traditional 'Feminist' Condemnation of Surrogacy

© Heather Weller

If you asked me if I considered myself a feminist, I would have a hard time answering. Born in the early 1970s, the daughter of two very liberal parents, I grew up in an environment that supported the idea women could do or be anything they put their minds to. With this, I agree in full. I strongly believe that men and women should be paid the same for the same jobs. I do not believe one gender should have dominance over the other. At the same time, my views on "feminism" are framed by the views of the self-described "feminists" I've come across. In far too many cases, these views of what a woman should be have been just as rigid - if diametrically opposed to - the traditional views of women as mothers and wives. Having made the choice to be a full-time mother and wife, I bear the scorn of some of these women, which certainly doesn't bother me, I'm quite happy with my choice, or particularly surprise me.

What did surprise me was that my decision to be a surrogate would put me at odds with traditional feminist thinking.

This discovery came while flipping through the pages of one of the great tomes of feminist health issues - Our Bodies, Ourselves by The Boston Women's Health Book Collective. It had been given to me by my mother upon graduation from high school, and, I must admit, sat on my bookshelves gathering dust for quite a while. My only memory of reading the book was during my pregnancy with my daughter, reading their information on labor and delivery, and being horrified to see a full-scale graphic of exactly how large 10 centimeters dilation is! (Let me tell you - avoid this if you're in the midst of fear of labor!) Beyond that, it went back to gathering dust on my shelves until several months ago when I was rearranging said shelves. On a whim, I decided to see if they published any commentary on surrogacy, which they did. I could not believe what I was reading.

How could a group that so strongly supports any woman's right to decide to terminate a pregnancy at any stage in the game, or, for that matter, a woman's decision to be anything she wants to be (except, perhaps, wife and mother) be so strongly against a woman's decision to use her reproductive organs to assist those who need that assistance to be what THEY most want to be - parents?!