The death of an Indian surrogate mother may fuel more debate about surrogacy and egg donation in Norway. Views and News from Norway reports on how this situation may hurt current talks about making surrogacy laws “more precise.”
An Indian woman who was pregnant with twins for a Norwegian couple died of hepatitis shortly after giving birth last fall. One of the twins died as well, and the fatalities resulting from Norwegians desperate to have children is likely to fire up the debate over surrogacy once again.
Newspaper Aftenposten reported Tuesday that the surrogate mother in India took on the job of giving birth for the Norwegian couple “to earn money for her family.” That may fuel the argument against surrogacy by critics, including Norway’s own state directorate for children’s and family issues (Bufetat), who equate it with human trafficking.Surrogacy remains illegal in Norway, and egg donation is also illegal under the current laws on biotechnology. Norway’s government-backed health ministry has, however, proposed revising the law to ensure that private persons won’t be punished if they, for example, hire a surrogate mother in other countries where surrogacy is legal, such as in India and the US.
Many prominent Norwegians including the former chief of the state police, Øystein Mæland, and actor, Geir Kvarme, have hired surrogate mothers themselves to have children in the US. Crown Princess Mette-Marit also traveled to India late last summer to look after two babies born to a surrogate mother on behalf of gay friends in Norway who had experienced delays in obtaining visas to travel to India themselves.
Her involvement could have been viewed as abetting a crime, and debate broke out last fall over whether state police chief Mæland had broken the law himself. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg found himself in an awkward position in both cases, reluctant to criticize the crown princess and also because he’s a personal friend of Mæland’s. Stoltenberg thus refused to answer questions on the issue posed to him in Parliament, claiming he had a conflict of interest in the case involving Mæland, who later resigned his position but for other reasons.
Instead the government, fronted by the health ministry, is opting to “make the current law more precise” according to one of Stoltenberg’s fellow Labour Party members, state secretary Nina Tangnæs Grønvold in the ministry. She stresses that Norway’s biotechnology law doesn’t apply outside Norway, and that the law change proposed just before last week’s Easter holiday merely clarifies that purchase of surrogacy services in other countries can’t be prosecuted in Norway.
Even the government coalition is itself split on the issue, however, with several Members of Parliament for the coalition member Center Party saying they won’t vote to change the law.“When the government is so explicit in saying that breaking the biotechnology law won’t have consequences, it’s making surrogacy abroad legitimate,” MP Kjersti Toppen for the Center Party told Aftenposten.
Meanwhile, the surrogate mother’s death after childbirth in India set off more concerns over surrogacy, both at home and abroad.
“It illustrates the high degree of risk involved, even though the births generally go well,” anthropologist Kristin Engh Førde, who’s writing her doctoral thesis on surrogacy in India, told Aftenposten. Førde noted that surrogate mothers are often recruited among poor women motivated by the prospect of being paid to bear others’ children.
“Pregnancy and birth are tied to unpredictability for all of us,” Førde said. “Things can happen, and surrogacy contracts should reflect that.”
The Indian woman who died after giving birth for the Norwegians had other children of her own. Asked whether they received any compensation, Aftenposten was told her children would be looked after by their father and her brother’s family. A friend of the deceased surrogate mother said the children also received the equivalent of around NOK 31,000 (USD 5,300).
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- Rotunda again!:
03 Apr 2013 Director Goral Gandhi at the Rotunda - Center for Human Reproduction in Mumbai, India, that provides contact between surrogate mothers and Norwegian singles and couples, now confirmed by e-mail to Aftenposten that the woman died shortly after birth. - She was healthy until the 26th week of pregnancy When she became ill with vomiting and a lot of the hospital. She was diagnosed with jaundice. Her condition deteriorated rapidly and she developed cerebral edema due to hepatitis E infection, says Gandhi. The woman was pregnant with twins, one child died shortly after birth. Would make money Aftenposten has spoken woman friend, "Fatima", through an interpreter by phone. Her friend says the woman took the job to earn money for his family. It is a common motivation, according to anthropologist Kristin Engh Forde, Department of Health and Society at the University of Oslo. She writes thesis on surrogati in India. - Surrogates often recruited among very poor women with few other opportunities to earn money. A death notice Surrogate mother's tragic death tells us that if India wants to offer the world surrogati, women must have the strongest rights. She says many of the women stated desire to give their children a better life and brighter future as a motive to become surrogate. Forde did not have the impression that the death or serious illness in connection with surrogatisvangerskap is widespread in India. - But the case illustrates that there is great risk involved, although it usually goes well. Pregnancy and birth are associated with the unpredictability of us. Things can happen and it should surrogate icon tracts and the parties take into account, says Forde. Replacement When asked about the woman's children received some form of compensation, the Director responds that husband and her brother's family takes care of her biological children. The woman's friend says that the surrogate's own children got a replacement of approx. 300,000 rupees, ie ca. 31,000 Norwegian kroner. Infection Specialists Bent Von der Lippe at Ullevaal Hospital said that pregnant women who contract the hepatitis E infection, 10 to 20 percent risk of dying in pregnancy. A high proportion of the population in certain areas has acquired protective motstoff (antibodies) against the disease and probably will not get sick of new infections. It is easy to test for antibody to hepatitis E. The surrogate mother is obviously not tested, he said. Government: Not Punished MFA confirms that they have been involved in the case. - Yes, I can confirm that the embassy is aware of the issue and death. The Embassy has helped in the process of registration of parenthood made by Norwegian authorities before the child goes to Norway with the parent, says Svein A. Michelsen. We have not succeeded graded to get in touch with the Norwegian parent to child. Friday before Easter la Ministry of Health made recommendations for changes in biotechnology law. Here, the Government stated that individuals who violate the law biotechnology should not be punished, for example by purchasing a surrogate mother abroad. In February, the ruling party's parliamentary Sps refusal to exempt individuals for criminal liability for violations of biotechnology law.
