My research focuses on the movement of children across borders, specifically migration matters related to intercountry adoption laws and policies. During my exploration of these issues, a question that has always lingered in the depths of my mind is whether Korea can ever reckon with its history of sending over 200,000 children overseas for adoption and confront its legacy of children s rights violations.
How Surrogacy Harms Women and Children
While America is a popular destination for surrogacy for those who can afford it, some commissioning parents engage in international surrogacy arrangements in countries with even less regulation such as Ukraine and Russia. Pictured: Nurses hold babies born to Ukrainian surrogate mothers as foreign couples gather to collect them in the hotel Venice in the capital of Kiev, June 10, 2020. (Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images)
Commentary By
Melanie Israel is a research associate for the DeVos Center for Religion & Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation.
By now many Americans have read a glowing news article about the latest celebrity to have a child via surrogacy or watched a human-interest piece about a woman carrying a child for a loved one.
Policy Analyst, DeVos Center In a hotel in Kiev, Ukraine, dozens of surrogate babies wait to be picked up by their foreign biological parents on June 10, 2020. Andreas Stein / picture alliance / Getty Images
Key Takeaways
Surrogacy is fraught with ethical and moral considerations. It is a process that can exploit vulnerable women. It carries significant health and psychological risks.
The children of surrogacy arrangements are deliberately separated from the only mother they have ever known the moment they are born.
The international surrogacy market appears to have significant and growing overlap with human trafficking.
By now many Americans have read a glowing news article about the latest celebrity to have a child via surrogacy or watched a human-interest piece about a woman carrying a child for a loved one. From New York, which just quietly legalized commercial surrogacy
Michael Smolin
Michael James Smolin was the beloved husband of Lorna-Kay Peal, father of Lee Smolin and David Smolin, stepfather to Allison Joy Dincecco, brother of the late Louise Reverby, grandfather of 10, great-grandfather of six, uncle, cousin, and friend. He was a dedicated member of Ohav Shalom Synagogue in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Ohavi Zedek Synagogue in Burlington, Vt.
Michael was born in New York City, attended the Bronx High School of Science and graduated from City College with a degree in chemical engineering. He was a certified professional engineer and had a long and successful career in the pharmaceutical, food and health care industries. He was an early innovator in environmental cleanup processes.