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When a surrogate mom asks for her babies back
A set of twins was born to a surrogate mother in Michigan. The surrogate mother gave the twins to a couple who covered her medical expenses for carrying the babies, but then she decided she wanted the twins. Who should get the babies?
Neither the birth mother or the adoptive parents are biologically related to the twins. The sperm and the eggs came from anonymous donors. This is a situation that's testing the boundaries of a field known as third-party reproduction, in which more than two people collaborate to have a baby.
Shutterstock/Anthony Cottrell
Surrogacy is becoming a popular way for couples who can't have children to adopt. Shirley Zager, director of the Organization of Parents Through Surrogacy, a national support group, told the NY Times that there have been about 28,000 surrogate births since 1976.
There are two types of surrogacy. Traditional surrogacy is when the woman carrying the baby is also the biological mother; the resulting child is created from her egg and sperm from the donor father. Before I.V.F. became a standard fertility treatment, about 15 years ago, this was the only surrogacy option. But with the introduction of I.V.F., couples now have the option of gestational surrogacy, when the surrogate mother carries a child genetically unrelated to her.
There are roughly 750 births a year involving gestational surrogacy and usually the process goes smoothly but a situation in Michigan that has been featured in the New York Times and on Good Morning America this morning, shows what happens when things go badly.
After two miscarriages and five failed rounds of in vitro fertilization, Scott and Amy Kehoe looked into surrogacy. The Michigan couple purchased eggs and sperm from an anonymous donor and connected with Shelley Baker who agreed to carry the baby and gave birth to twins.
But at the hearing to transfer guardianship, Baker learned that Amy Kehoe, 41, was arrested for minor cocaine possession and diagnosed with an unspecified psychotic disorder nine years ago. Baker was upset by the information but allowed the Kehoes to adopt the babies.
A month later Baker changed her mind. She wanted the babies back. Read More 'When a surrogate mom asks for her babies back' »
| January 11 2010 at 11:11 AM
Madonna goes baby shopping in other African countries
After failing to adopt Mercy from Malawi, Madonna is reportedly shopping for kids elsewhere.
Daily Mail
Madonna and her son David Banda watch Prince Harry play polo in New York
The Material Girl may be planning to adopt a baby from the African kingdom of Lesotho, according to the the Daily Mail, a British news site. Lesotho is a landlocked country entirely surrounded by South Africa and Prince Harry has close links with it. His charity Sentebale raises money for vulnerable children in the country, which has one of the highest AIDS rates in the world.
Mail reporter Katie Nicholl assumes Madonna's "quest for another child is the reasons the pop diva watched Prince Harry play at a polo match in aid of his charity Sentebale in New York last weekend."
Madonna is also making inquiries at an orphanage in Nigeria about a female child, according to News Of The World, a British celebrity news site.
Daily Mail
The family of Mercy say they do not want to let the young girl go.
Madonna, 50, has an appeal pending in Malawi after a High Court ruling that she could not adopt four-year-old Mercy, according to the Mail. But over the weekend the paper reported that the star was warned last week that the three High Court judges considering the case are unlikely to rule in her favor when the verdict is made in open court later this month.
In April, a Malawian judge rejected Madonna's application to adopt Mercy because the star does not fulfill the country's residency requirements. Prospective parents have to live in Malawi for 18 months before adopting an orphan. Also, Mercy's family has stepped forward and said they'd like to keep the child.
The star is determined to extend her family and provide a little sister for daughter Lourdes, 12, and sons Rocco, 8, and David, 3, who she adopted in Malawi.
"Madonna is not a patient person, she's used to getting what she wants. She has said she won't give up on Mercy but if she's blocked from adopting her legally then she will think about trying to adopt another baby. She has already started looking into other African countries," a source told the Daily Mail.
The star has "some of the best legal minds working for her" to find a loophole in Nigeria's three-month residency requirement, according to News Of The World. "Failure is not an option. Madonna wouldn't be able to take rejection for the second time," a source said.
What do you think of Madonna's dogged efforts to adopt? Do you applaud her persistence to care for children from impoverished countries and to raise awareness about Africa's children? Or does it bother you that she whisks into countries expecting to fast-track the adoption process, jumping through loopholes, spending loads of money on lawyers, and jumping ahead of others waiting in line to adopt children?
| June 08 2009 at 06:57 AM
When celebrities adopt children from faraway lands
Madonna recently returned to Malawi to adopt a culturally kindred sibling for her youngest child, David. She decided upon a 4-year-old girl, Mercy, from an orphanage in the southern town of Bvumbwe, but on Sunday a man told The Associated Press he was the girl's father and has sought help from the Malawi Law Society to stop the adoption.
Karel Prinsloo/AP
Madonna at an orphanage in Malawi.
This isn't the only issue stalling Madonna's efforts to adopt Mercy. She's also grappling with a stipulation that prospective parents must live in Malawi for at least 18 months, a provision meant to thwart child-trafficking. The requirement was controversially waived when she was allowed to take David to London in 2006, which angered many human rights groups that alleged the singer used her fame and fortune to flout Malawai's adoption laws.
The controversy over Madonna's adoption has everyone scrutinizing celebrities who adopt children of different backgrounds from their own. The pop star certainly isn't the only one doing it, nor did she start the trend. Ewan McGregor and his wife adopted a 4-year-old girl from Mongolia in 2006 and Meg Ryan adopted a child from China the same year. And then there's Angelina Jolie who has adoption fever. After filming Tomb Raider in Cambodia, Jolie picked up her first child in a local orphanage in Battambang; at the time she was married to Billy Bob Thornton. Later, she and Brad Pitt adopted a six-month Ethiopian girl, and then a 3-year-old boy from Vietnam who was abandoned at birth.
These are all recent instances. Stars have actually been adopting from foreign lands for years. Julia Andrews adopted two Vietnamese children in 1974. Mia Farrow adopted 10 children from all around the world, some with disabilities. The most famous of them, Soon-Yi Previn, went on to have an affair with Mia's former-significant-other, Woody Allen, as a teenager. Then Woody and Soon-Yi married and adopted two children themselves.
No, doubt it's admirable that celebrities are rescuing abandoned children from poverty-stricken lands ravaged by war and natural disaster and from places where AIDS is spreading quickly. They are giving a whole new life filled with opportunity to children with otherwise bleak futures. Celebs are drawing attention to worthy causes, and they have also led Americans to look beyond the option to adopt a healthy white infant, which is actually quite difficult to do in the United States.
But while you might admire celebrities for their good deeds, you might also mistrust them. Some stars are notorious for drawing attention to themselves. Madonna is the queen of publicity stunts. Remember when she kissed Britney Spears? Or do you recall the $50 coffee-table book Sex? Since nearly everything Madonna does seems to be a public relations ploy, how can you not assume her adoptions are too. Yes, she probably truly loves these children but her maternal instinct seems intermingled with an effort to enhance her personal brand. She has certainly gotten great press coverage by flying into an exotic, tropical country and tromping along unpaved roads sporting cargo pants and dark sunglasses while holding smiling African children. Would the pictures have been as good if she adopted through a foster family in the United States?
| May 03 2009 at 10:38 AM
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