THE CONCEPT OF SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD IN CHRISTINE OVERALLS PHILOSOPHY, AN ETHICAL EVALUATION

A surrogate, which is synonymous with words such as “deputize,” “foster,” and “substitute,” is not a strange word for many persons, even in Africa. It explains the condition that births a person or animal acting as a substitute for the social or personal role of another, such as a surrogate mother. However, commendable as this sounds, the problem of surrogacy in today’s world reached apogee as a result of the misconstrued preconception of familyhood. This growing misinterpretation of what familyhood entails, as well its intricacies, has caused a catastrophic lost to understanding first-hand what familyhood is, in the context of marriage at first, and to the individual surrogate at best. In today’s world, the problems of surrogacy which includes its moral justification, the need for proper parental care and birthing psychologically imbalanced kids, is far from being over. Refreshingly, this research, in attempting to address these problems, shall adopt the analytic method. This philosophical method shall invariably aid to address the ethical issues surrounding the applicability of the concept of surrogacy in our society, while not forgetting to criticize purported facts about surrogacy, the research hopes to, amidst the weakness of acknowledging baby marketing contracts, to situate the concept and idea of familyhood in its rightful places yet again.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE………………....…………………………………………………………….………..…i

DECLARATION……………………………………………………………………...….….ii

APPROVAL…………..………………………………………………………………...…….iii

DEDICATION………,………………………………………………...……..……………...iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………....…………...........v

TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………..…………………………..…….………..vii

ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………….........……….…..ix

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY………………..………….………………………..1

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM………………….………………………………...2

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY……………………….…………………………………...2

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY……………………………………………..……....3

1.5 METHOD OF THE STUDY………………………………………….…………….......3

1.6 JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY ………………………………………………...……….3

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY ………………………………………………………………4

1.8 ORGANIZATION OF STUDY ………………………………………………………...4

1.9 CLARIFICATION OF TERM………..............................................................................4

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ...................................6

CHAPTER THREE

CHRISTINE OVERALL’S PHILOSOPHY OF SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD

3.1 LIFE AND TIME OF CHRISTINE OVERALL …………..........................…………...21

3.2 CHILD BIRTH ……………….……………………………………………………….. 22

3.3 ARTIFICIAL REPRODUCTION AND REPRODUCTION RIGHTS …………...…...24

3.4 SURROGATE MOTHERS …………….....................………………………………... 26

3.5 REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM ……….............................…………………………… 27

3.6 AUTONOMY AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ………....................……………... 29

CHAPTER FOUR

THE CONCEPT OF SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD AND ITS IMPLICATION TO HUMANS IN THE SOCIETY

4.1 SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD …………………………………………………… 32

4.2 TYPES OF SURROGACY …………………………………………………………..33

4.2.1 TRADITIONAL SURROGACY ………………………...………...………...34

4.2.2 GESTATIONAL SURROGACY ………………………….……………….. 34

4.3 THE PROBLEM OF SURROGACY ……………………….……………………… 34

4.3.1 HUMAN DIGNITY DEVALUATION ………...……..…………………… 35

4.3.2 HUMAN LIFE DEVALUATION N………….……………………………. 36

4.4 THE JOY OF MOTHERHOOD……………...………..…………………………….37

CHAPTER FIVE

EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION

5.1 EVALUATION …………….………………………………………………………. 41

5.2 CONCLUSION …………………………………..………………………………….44

WORKS CITED ………………………..……………………………………………... 47