Being A Parent Through Surrogacy

Priyanka Chopra Jonas recently announced that she and her husband Nick Jonas have welcomed a baby through surrogacy. And following this news, we saw the backlash they received. The people accused celebrities of misusing surrogacy for their own comfort. Their argument was that surrogacy is for couples who cannot have a baby naturally. However, thankfully we also got to see a lot of people standing in support of the celebrities and saying that how a person becomes a parent should be their own choice.

Surrogacy is an arrangement, usually supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to bear a child for another person or people, who will become the child’s parent(s) after birth. We are familiar with this process because so many celebrities have already opted for this. And it is occasionally depicted in popular media. Sharukh Khan, Karan Johar, Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty, Amir Khan etc are some celebrities who opted for Surrogacy. The latest on the list is Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

So, should surrogacy be considered bad necessarily? It is a woman’s choice what put her body through. If a person is opting for surrogacy, it should be their choice and they should be left alone to enjoy the happiness of welcoming a baby into their life.  If surrogacy is bad, then adoption should be considered a sin too. But both surrogacy and adoption are a blessing to those who cannot have children naturally. But at the same time, it is also a blessing for those who want a baby but do not want to put their body through the process of childbirth.

Giving birth should not be considered the necessary criteria towards parenthood. People who adopt or have babies through surrogacy could be very good parents. At the same time, not every mother who gave birth herself is a perfect mother with no faults. And if giving birth is the criteria for being a parent, fathers would have no connection with their child whatsoever since they did not give birth to the child themselves.

But being a parent is something that people can point fingers at in each and every phase. Sometimes even opting for C-section is scorned upon. Or feeding your baby formula milk is considered inhumane. It is high time to change these regressive concepts about parenthood and accept all means and methods through which one becomes a parent. Surrogacy is not a crime; it is a personal choice that should be respected.

-Written by Poorna Krishnan