Back in January, Pope Francis spoke against the practice of Gestational Surrogacy. This is when a woman carries a fetus of someone else’s making. There are roughly 1300 of these a year in the United States. In a document released two days ago, the reason given was, “In the face of so many violations of human dignity that seriously threaten the future of the human family, the Church encourages the promotion of the dignity of every human person, regardless of their physical, mental, cultural, social and religious characteristics,“. Opposition to gender change (I’ll address that later this week) was also added to this document as a way that “We are called to protect our humanity, and this means, in the first place, accepting it and respecting it as it was created,“. In other words, accept the way God made you, and be thankful.
Part of the pope’s concern is that surrogates can be coerced by the lure of cash, and I imagine that this is true. Some states do not allow payment, but some do. It makes sense that someone carrying another person’s child should have costs covered, and I agree that there is something uncomfortable – in my thinking – about a person being paid to do this. Of course, people get paid to do all kinds of things that I wouldn’t, so that isn’t a reason to ban the practice. And while I have grown to respect this pope’s evolution in matters of justice and human freedom, this declaration makes no sense to me. I have known couples who, for whatever reason, were unable to have a child, and surrogacy was a wonderful way to fulfill that dream.
Part of the pope’s concern is that surrogates can be coerced by the lure of cash, and I imagine that this is true. Some states do not allow payment, but some do. It makes sense that someone carrying another person’s child should have costs covered, and I agree that there is something uncomfortable – in my thinking – about a person being paid to do this. Of course, people get paid to do all kinds of things that I wouldn’t, so that isn’t a reason to ban the practice. And while I have grown to respect this pope’s evolution in matters of justice and human freedom, this declaration makes no sense to me. I have known couples who, for whatever reason, were unable to have a child, and surrogacy was a wonderful way to fulfill that dream.
More than that, the Christian faith is solely based on Gestational Surrogacy! God, via an angel, asked Mary if she would carry God, and Mary, after some consternation, fear, and consideration, said “Yes”. She was then so elated by the choice that she sang, “My soul magnifies the Lord!” And whether you think of Jesus as God Incarnate and/or God’s Son, it all comes down to the same thing – Mary was a surrogate, and Joseph became a surrogate dad because of her willingness to carry a child who was not of her making. To take it a step further, does this mean that the pope opposes any surgery that changes the way we came out of the womb? No more cleft palate surgery? No prosthetics? No nose jobs or bodily enhancements? Maybe I am not understanding the point, but it seems to me that this way of thinking harkens back to a time when any child born who was in any way “different” would be killed on the spot. Maybe you think that is going too far, but we can see lots of horrible things happening in the name of God, can’t we?
As I said, I respect this pope and appreciate how far he has come in his thinking about humanity. Just his stating that it isn’t his place to judge LGB people was a big step. The UPI report on this states that this document was 5 years in the making; I think they need to take a little more time to consider the far-reaching ramifications of their thinking. Maybe rereading the stories about the struggle that Joseph and Mary had in saying yes to being God’s surrogates would help them come to a different conclusion. I hope so. Otherwise, a lot of people could get hurt because of this stance.
Prayer – We thank You God for making us the way we are, and for giving us the minds that help us to help others when they need more. Amen.
Today’s art is “Madonna” by Jyodi Sahi, a Dalit artist. Dalit’s are also known as “untouchables” in the Indian caste system.