Surrogate mothers, or baby makers, are of interest to me. Uncomfortable questions keep bothering me about them. I first heard of this concept through a simple Sunday school story where Abraham slept with his wife’s Egyptian maidservant, Hagar. She bore him a child called Ishmael (the so-called father of Muslim religion).

Then I read a similar case occurred on Jacob’s marriage with Rachel, the woman whom he worked for 14 years, but was made ‘barren’ by God after seeing how favored she was as compared to her older sister, Leah, who was unloved despite being married to Jacob. There, Rachel let her maidservant, Bilhah, sleep with her husband to give her a baby and make a ‘family’. Weird, eh?

But it was a custom, then, so legality, neither morality, is out of the question. Now, ‘wombs for rent’ are even lawful and profitable in India, giving  infertile couples  ‘sons/daughters’ to make a ‘family’. Nothing seems wrong with the arrangement on the surface, given the act being voluntary and risk-free (which I somehow doubt).  However, legal issues arise when hired mothers seem unprepared, misinformed or unfit to decide for themselves (e.g. minors).  I’m in no position to say there’s something wrong with this practice- it’s their choice.

If I were barren, I wouldn’t consider this idea. Outsourcing a baby to complete a couple’s union would never be an option for me. I’d perhaps opt for adoption.