One day, paid surrogacy will be mainstream

Summary: commercial surrogacy will become mainstream Most mothers need to work, or want to work. Most pregnancies are planned. Commercial surrogacy will be economically and practically convenient for many parents. Surrogacy presents no risks to mother-child attachment. The main barriers to commercial surrogacy are the current chaos in relation to law and regulations, and social convention. These barriers will be easily overcome. Commercial surrogacy will soon be a normal, conventional option for prospective parents. For evidence, please read on. Most mothers of small children are working A recent US census report shows that more than half (54%) of mothers with children under five are working. Another 11% are either in school or actively looking for work. Only 39% of mothers are currently caring for their small children full time. It works both ways. Mothers who are working because they are in careers that are important to them and pay a lot are in a position to hire a surrogate. Mothers who don’t want to leave their children but must for economic reasons are likely to be surrogates. Who's Minding the Kids? Child Care Arrangements: Spring 2010 (SIPP 2008) http://www.census.gov... most pregnancies are planned Just over half of all pregnancies are planned. About half the unplanned pregnancies are aborted. Therefore, roughly two thirds of pregnancies that go to term are planned. http://www.arhp.org... http://www.guttmacher.org... http://en.wikipedia.org... http://www.cdc.gov... http://www.cdc.gov... There is no biological urge to be pregnant There is a biological urge to have sex, and there is a biological urge to care for a baby once it is born. There is no biological urge to be pregnant because until very recently, this was not a decision that mammals had control over. The maternal instinct is very strong, but it applies only to babies, not fetuses. The difference becomes obvious when you compare society attitudes to abortion and infanticide. Mother-child attachment occurs shortly after birth Parent-child attachment occurs shortly after birth for up to about two years. This is why babies who are adopted can form very strong relationships with their adopting parents, while foster relationships and step-parent relationships are often, notoriously, problematic. Note, attachment does not occur in utero. Here are some references. “Infants become attached to individuals who are sensitive and responsive in social interactions with them, and who remain as consistent caregivers for some months during the period from about six months to two years of age.” http://en.wikipedia.org... “Children who are adopted after the age of six months are at risk for attachment problems.” http://www.emkpress.com... surrogacy legislation is inconsistent and chaotic There are legislation and laws related to surrogacy arrangements, but they differ from state to state in the US, and from country to country around the world. In many countries, including mine, commercial surrogacy is illegal, but people can still make arrangements with surrogates overseas. A recent article in the American Bar Association Journal complained about the legal "chaos" of surrogacy. http://www.abajournal.com... As laws become more consistent and secure, people will be more willing to take part in surrogacy arrangements. The main barrier to surrogacy is social convention, which will change “I still find it difficult to believe that a woman, whose natural biological response is to have a baby, would by and large choose to ignore this innate impulse.” “Shallow women, perhaps rich housewives, would likely use a surrogate, though.” These quotes from Khaos_Mage in round two are good examples of the main barrier to surrogacy: convention. Surrogacy is unnatural and shallow to many people at the moment. Once upon a time, women quit work as soon as they got married. Nice girls didn’t even know what contraception was. Abortion was illegal. Certainly, mothers of small children didn’t go out to work if they could afford to stay at home. Attitudes to all these things have changed, and quickly. Attitudes to commercial surrogacy will change too. ‘Mainstream’ means ‘normal or conventional’ My Compact Oxford English Dictionary (2002) defines 'mainstream' as 'normal or conventional ideas, attitudes or activities'. It does not mean 'the principal or dominant course'. For example, a type of music can be mainstream without being the number one best seller. Therefore, surrogacy can be mainstream if a lot of people do it, if it doesn't cause surprise, if people routinely consider it when they're thinking of starting a family. I was surprised by your definition in round one, but I wrongly assumed it must be one of those American/English differences, like "momentarily", and since this is an American website I thought I would just have to go along with it. However, out of interest, I put "mainstream" into the search engines at the New York Times and USA Today, and in the articles that came up, "mainstream" was always used to mean "normal and conventional" rather than "the principal or dominant course". I have been happily using dictionary.com for years, but I'm going to regard it with suspicion from now on. Here are the examples from the US papers. From The New York Times “[ALTIMA] NISSAN A more mainstream approach for a midsize model that has been selling briskly” http://www.nytimes.com... "Finding a sprouts-on-seven-grain-bread sandwich has never been a problem in Los Angeles, but even a few years ago, the vegan chef and cookbook author Tal Ronnen couldn’t imagine that his specialty would go as mainstream as it has of late." http://www.nytimes.com... "a prominent member of the Mormon church, J.W. Marriott Jr., told his congregation on Sunday that the Romneys were helping to lead the church…"out of obscurity and into the mainstream." http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com... USA TODAY "And based on the past 50 years of stock market data, the riskiest mainstream asset class for investors are shares of small growth companies." http://www.usatoday.com... "These performance versions of mainstream [car] models represent a move to more efficient, sometimes smaller, engines." http://www.usatoday.com... "His solo debut, "Formula Vol. 1," reached the Top 10 on the mainstream Billboard chart and even features a duet with Usher that dominated Latin radio for weeks." http://usatoday30.usatoday.com...