Is a Woman just a “Womb for Hire”?

In God's eyes, a woman is more than a womb for hire. Yet:

Commercial surrogacy, or being paid to give birth to the child of a stranger, was legalized in India in 2002. Since then "Reproductive outsourcing" has been a rapidly expanding business in which poor women are hired to carry babies to term for heterosexual and homosexual couples from around the world.

The Times Online cites official sources suggesting that this "reproductive sector" of India's economy will be worth as much as $12 billion this year.

As more Westerners opt to outsource pregnancies to the subcontinent, some Indian clinics are reporting a fourfold rise in the number of foreign clients on their books in the past year. As demand increases, newspaper adverts for surrogates are becoming more common. "British couple seeks surrogate to carry child. Great pay!! A $1,000.00 bonus!!!" reads one..

The New York Times describes two homosexual men who "plan eventually to tell their child about being made in India, in the womb of a stranger, with the egg of a Mumbai housewife they picked from an Internet lineup." "We picked the one with the highest level of education," Mr. Gher said. From profiles of egg donors that were sent by e-mail, they rejected a factory worker in favor of a housewife, who they thought would have a less stressful lifestyle.

The overwhelming attraction is the price - 80% less than the United States. "Doctors, lawyers, accountants, they can afford it, but the rest of us - the teachers, the nurses, the secretaries - we can't, unless we go to India," said Lisa Switzer from San Antonio, Texas whose twins are being carried by a surrogate mother. Cheap medical care, a supply of equally cheap surrogate mothers and the absence of legal controls have made India the world leader in commercial surrogacy, according to the Times Online.

Another advantage in the eyes of customers is that women can be kept "free from vices like alcohol, smoking and drugs." For example, many surrogate mothers live together in a hostel attached to the clinic where they will donate eggs, receive implanted embryos, gestate under supervision and receive payment when the babies are delivered. According to policy, the donor and surrogate mother are always different women to reduce the likelihood of bonding with the child. Likewise, at most clinics contact is not permitted between the egg donor, surrogate mother or future parents.

The biblical, ethical and personal dilemmas from these news accounts are almost too overwhelming to count. Even government officials who are actively promoting India as a medical tourism destination, express discomfort over this exchange of money for babies.

My heart goes out to everyone involved: couples struggling with infertility, poor women giving up babies they have carried to term, parents looking for children at economical prices, homosexual couples hiring strangers to produce offspring, living embryos destroyed as a result of invitro fertilization, and growing humans who will come to learn of a bizarre conception.

A woman is more than a womb for hire. Another man's wife is more than a baby-making factory at a competitive price. The apostle Peter commands husbands to "show honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life" (1 Peter 3:7). In other words, every woman bears the image of God and has equal access as men to salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. It is a dishonor to women and to God to use their bodies to bear children outside of the protection of marriage.

Please pray that God would stop this horror. Pray that God would open the eyes of all of the people involved in this business. Pray that more governments would make this industry illegal. Pray that the gospel would advance and that the church would stand mightily against this trade.