The BBC is the cheerleader for same-sex surrogacy
by Ann Farmer, TCW:
Olympic diver Tom Daley and his ‘husband’ were adorned with sashes bearing the slogan ‘Daddy to be’ as they ‘celebrated the imminent arrival of their son with a baby shower’. Later Daley told the Andrew Marr Show: ‘The laws in the UK are different to the US. If a surrogate carries a baby, UK law recognises the surrogate and her partner as the parents.’ At present, the ‘commissioning couple’ has to apply for a parental order, but Daley was not asked how he would change the law. BBC Radio 5 Live also devoted a full hour to surrogacy without addressing the fact that these children are deprived of their biological mothers or fathers.
Seemingly the BBC has decided that surrogacy – especially for same-sex couples – is A Good Thing; that countervailing arguments must be excluded including the EU’s reasons for refusing to legitimise it. It loves to showcase same-sex couples, but same-sex marriage is fuelling the demand for surrogacy arrangements on the basis of ‘equality’. However, while there is an internationally recognised human right to found a family, there is no universal human right to obtain a child via surrogacy, even when it is co-created by the ‘customer’.
In recent years the sexual diversity campaign has made significant strides; children’s needs were prioritised in the Adoption and Children Act 2002, but the 2006 Equality Act designated the adoption process as ‘the provision of goods and services’; thus on equality grounds adoption must not be withheld from same-sex couples, sometimes with tragic results.
And in surrogacy there is even less official scrutiny, with the ‘commissioning parents’ calling the shots; they can reject the ‘product’ if ‘faulty’ – some surrogate mothers sign a contract agreeing to abort the child if disability is detected. Surrogacy provides impoverished women with income, but it would be better to help them find an ethical source of income than to exploit their poverty.
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