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Mags Meanderings:
From Som Tam
To Mushy Peas
the baby business
OK - hands up - I admit to being one of hundreds of
thousands of the so called ‘Baby Boomers’ born during
the aftermath of World War 2.
It was clearly a productive but somewhat unsettled
time. Men returning from the war often found that
the hoped for return to a normal family life was not
to be. Many relationships didn’t survive the prolonged
absence of the person who was once seen as the head
of the household. Women had become used to working
and supporting themselves, and had gained a new sense
of independence, which for some wives also involved
moving on to pastures new.
For the more fortunate couples one priority was to
catch up on lost time, not to mention ticking biological
clocks, and either start their families or add to them. For
many others it was a case of starting over.
Whatever the personal reasons one result, certainly in
the UK and probably many other countries, was a huge
rise in adoptions.
In those days abortion was still totally illegal in Britain,
and despite having more independence single mothers
still found themselves stigmatised, even by the State.
Those without the support of their families were hidden
away in homes for single mothers until they gave birth,
at which point their babies were quickly whisked away
to join adoptive parents.
Unlike the stringent adoption processes and checks
which take place now it was all pretty chaotic, and often
family doctors would liaise with each other to match
babies with new parents. Then of course came the now
infamous shipping of orphans to new lives in Australia
by the childrens charity Doctor Barnardo’s.
Fortunately times have changed. We have moved on,
and single Mums are socially accepted if not even the
norm. Which means that less babies are available for
adoption by childless couples.
No doubt you can see where this is all going.
Quite apart from there being less adoptable babies,
there have also been huge advances in the field of
artificial insemination, which can give couples the
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hope of having a child which is in every way biologically
their own, even when it has been carried to term by a
surrogate mother. Which, as we have seen very recently
in the case of baby Gammy in Thailand, doesn’t always
have a happy ending.
For those who have somehow managed to miss the news,
Gammy was left with his surrogate Thai mother because
of his medical issues, while his healthy twin sister was
taken home to Australia by the biological parents.
Whatever the truth behind a situation which led to a
baby, clearly planned, being so cruelly separated from
his biological family, the fact remains that Gammy
and his sister were part of a business transaction. And
that is what really concerns me about the whole issue
of surrogacy, because normally when people pay for
something they expect it to be right.
But babies are not commodities and don’t come with a
sale or return policy.
This weeks word is ‘adjure’. A peculiar little word rarely
heard being bandied about in day to day bar room
chat. It simply means to solemnly urge someone to do
something. An example of its’ use could be something
like ‘Thailand was adjured to place stricter controls on
surrogacy.’
17
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