I came across an interesting Newsweek story about surrogate mothers that I thought others might want to read.
Lots of info I hadn't heard before: many American surrogate mothers are military wives; surrogate mothers are implanted w/embryos that do not involve their own eggs, so they have no legal right to the baby; and American surrogates are bearing children for foreigners from countries like Germany, which doesn't allow surrogacy.
Headline: The Curious Lives of Surrogates
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2 comments:
Okay... this sounds like a nice thing to do for a couple that can't have children... but who pays for the medical expenses related to the pregnancy and birth? Does the surrogate military spousse get to get the free (or otherwise very low cost) healthcare available to all active duty military spouses... or do they go to a private physician/private hospital to give birth?
If they're going to the military facilities (i.e. using Tricare etc.) then this is flat out wrong... I don't want my tax dollars going for children who wouldn't otherwise qualify for dependent status care.
The story says that, yes, military wives do use the military's Tricare health insurance plan when they are surrogate mothers, which some people (like you) and some in government object to. I think the story also says, however, that it's impossible for Tricare to screen pregnancies for surrogate status; in effect, a pregnancy is a pregnancy.
If I remember correctly, I think the story also says that some adoptive parents even pay a military-wife surrogate a premium on top of the basic $20,000 (or so) fee because of the Tricare health insurance.
Incidentally, Tricare doesn't pay for everything. I did a story for the Chicago Tribune about a woman who was denied an abortion by Tricare even though her fetus was anencephalic; that is, her fetus was developing without a brain but the govt told her she should carry the baby to term even though it would inevitably die within hours or days of birth.
Jessica
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