Sunday, August 20, 2017

Sharing Your Body With Strangers

Let's talk about fertility. The CDC's website is showing that 12.1% of women in the U.S. are infertile, and 12% of women have used fertility services. That's more than 1 in 10 women and doesn't include the male half of the population. More than likely, you know someone who has had to use fertility services or adoption in order to have the family of which they've always dreamed. So with this many people needing to take advantage of "non-traditional" means of family making, why are some of the options considered taboo? Specifically, I'm talking about donated eggs and surrogacy.

At the end of this week, my baby is going to be 2 months old. That means I have spent a lot of time feeding her and helping her sleep, i.e. I binge watch a LOT of shows (yay sitting around unable to use my hands XD). Thanks to that, I noticed that there are some varying opinions on egg donation and surrogacy in pop culture. 90210 paints egg donation in a negative light. Pretty Little Liars has its character shamefully hiding the fact that she donated her eggs and then used those eggs as part of a devastating plot twist. Glee did have a positive spin on surrogacy so that was a nice change of pace. But still, what is so bad about giving of yourself to help others achieve a family in the manner they desire/require?

I don't understand it. Men donating sperm isn't taboo. The only thing I can think of for why someone could have an issue with egg/uterus donation is because of the more invasive and involved nature of those procedures as opposed to the donation of sperm, but even if that is the problem, if someone is fully willing to undergo such procedures, it should be celebrated!

I was unable to donate my eggs due to genetic health issues, but I have every intention of becoming a surrogate when we're done having babies of our own. So tell me, what is your take on sharing your body with strangers? Would you do it? Would you be okay with your friend/family/significant other doing it? Why or why not?

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