SWA#5

Goodman’s main claim in “Womb For Rent-For a Price” is that the new technology that makes surrogacy possible is unethical and becoming more of a marketable attribute for young women.  She expands on that in society it is becoming more and more acceptable for women to carry other people’s offspring for them.  She brings up the subject of women in third world countries carrying children for people is bringing out a global “baby-making” industry. 

Goodman appeals to pathos by incorporating two stories about the surrogate mothers.  She explains that the money that the women receive, $5,000 to $7,000 a birth, is almost 10 years worth of wages that the same woman would earn at their normal job crushing glass in a factory for $25 a month.  One woman she explains used the money to fund her son’s heart operation, while another raised her daughters wedding dowry.  She also explains that she does not make light of the infertile couples that want children but is more explaining the surrogate mothers view of the child they carry, and the views they have when the child is not even partly theirs. 

I decided to answer the question on kairos.  I believe that Goodman was motivated to write this particular piece as a response to the increase in popularity of surrogacy. She focuses mostly on the surrogate mothers and where they live in third world countries.  She also explains that some of the women are illiterate and instead of signing their name they use a fingerprint.  This makes me feel that she is only pointing out the dark side of surrogacy. Some families turn to surrogacy, as a last resort as she said, but continues to say that the surrogate mothers believe that the child they are carrying is not theirs because it has none of their DNA. 

I feel that Goodman made a problematic point when she said that surrogacy comes close to selling ourselves into slavery or just selling our children.  On one end the surrogate mothers are giving people who want children their desire and they are compensated through a contractual agreement.  In no way is that near slavery.  It is a woman’s decision if she wants to become a surrogate mother, and each woman has different circumstances for choosing surrogacy no matter what color their skin.