Child on demand: Swiss organisations call for education about surrogacy

This reports Lifenet.ch in an online article.

The debate about egg donation is ongoing in Switzerland. For Zukunft CH, this is a reason to provide some sound clarification. While discussions often focus on the rights and wishes of adults, the lecture evening on September 1st in Aarau is also about the experience of the child.

Speakers report from experience

The Viennese bioethicist Susanna Kummer will report on the experiences of affected women. Egg donation is associated with high physical stress and can cause serious side effects. This fact is just as well known as the increased health risks and the emotional burden of women who carry "someone elses" children.

Zukunft CH also got psychologist Klaus Käppeli from St. Gallen to come to speak. As a specialist, he reports on the challenges that children who have been conceived artificially have to overcome. From many years of experience, he knows the differences in regards to children that are conceived in the natural way. In his article "I must not lose", Käppeli writes: " Children and parents who choose the route of artificial insemination have a different experience to that of natural conception and birth. It is a sensitive and multi-layered topic that requires special attention."

We need to talk about it

As the organiser, Regula Lehmann, the head of the marriage and family projects department at Zukunft CH, has a major concern for the topic. Again and again she is irritated by how contradictory women's and children's rights are currently handled. She gives an example: "On the one hand, we are outraged when we hear about exploitation and oppression, but at the same time, as soon as it comes to the desire to have children, we tolerate that many women who donate eggs or carry children for other people do so due to financial hardship." The topic of prenatal bonding is also largely suppressed, although we know more about the lives and needs of unborn children today than ever before. We often act not only against conscience, but also "against better knowledge".

On the lecture evening called "Child on demand?", findings and practical experiences will be presented that are likely going to be new or surprising for many. Regula Lehmann is convinced that the legalisation of surrogacy in Switzerland can in the long term only be prevented if the experience of the children and the risks of the women involved are brought to the forefront in society and in the media. Therefore, the lecture evening is not primarily about politics, but about practical experience and clarification. Regula Lehmann is convinced that "well-founded information is needed on surrogacy". People should know what the topic is all about and what kind of risks increasingly limitless reproductive medicines entail. Especially for women and children.