Babies on Trial

Last night I joined six other surrogates, four parents who have had children through surrogacy, and a lawyer at a Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. It was an amazing experience! 

We arrived at the Capitol at 5:40 for our six o'clock session of which we were second on the agenda. Another surrogate found a bench for me to sit on instead of having to wait in line. I was contemplating sitting on the floor, so the bench was a great option. Another surrogate who is 39 weeks pregnant sat with me and we passed the time together. We both had brought snacks and a bunch of water with us and enjoyed our own little picnic on the bench. 

The evening session was scheduled to start at 6, however, we were warned that the previous session was running late so we might have to wait a bit. A bit turned in to an hour and forty five minutes so we finally got into the room at 7:45. The Senate committee was taking a 20 minute recess for them to get a bite to eat. What I've discovered is that, to the Senate, a 20 minute break is equivelant to "I'll be down in a minute, honey!" 20 minutes my eye.

At 8:20ish the committee finally reconvened and started with the first proposed amendment. It was interesting to see how the whole process works. Republicans on our right, democrats on the left and a whole bunch of aids, pages, lobbyists, clerks, and who knows who else sprinkled throughout the room. 

I was completely unimpressed with the whole process. I feel like no matter what kind of testimony either side presented the committee members already had their minds made up. I wittnessed a couple of the members eating, checking their smart phones or tablets, or talking with others around them during various testimonies. Tell me how this is fair and giving the people of Minnesota a voice? 

After over an hour of testimony and debate, the first item on the agenda finally wrapped up and it was our turn. 

Our lobbyist had prepped us for what was to happen and when. Our lawyer, the senator who was backing our amendment, and the first person to testify went up to the table. After introducing the amendment and the reasons behind it, the testimonies began.

Before I get in to the testimonies, I'll breifly paraphrase the amendment.

1) currently, the law in Minnesota states that if a woman births a child the child is hers, regardless of genetic relation. The amendment allows that if the woman is under contract to carry a child for another, the parentage upon birth will immediately go to the parents, not the surrogate. Currently, the parents have to adopt their own child(ren) after the birth simply because the child(ren) was birthed by another person. The amendment would eliminate this step.

2)If a couple enters into a contract with a surrogate, both members of the couple would be considered the parents, despite any genetic material used. If a husband/wife couple has a surrogate and they use the husband's sperm but a donor egg, this amendment would say that the child born to the surrogate is both of theirs. (A case currently being debated in Minnesota is the direct result of this. Husband/wife used his sperm and a donor egg. Three days after finding out the surrogate was pregnant, the husband passed away. The courts now have to decide what to do with the child as the wife has no genetics vested in the child).

I'm sure I've missed some of the finer points, but you get the gist of it. Basically, the amendment would offer some more protection to surrogates and parents and help make the process easier and less expensive for all involved.

We had two surrogates who gave testimony and three different parents who all shared their stories. When the surrogates spoke, all of us surrogates were requested to stand and be recognized as surrogates in favor of this amendment. I was amused by the reactions of those around us as two very pregnant women and four others stood up. There were murmurs and smiles around the room. *warm fuzzies!*

Next came the opponents. There were only two of them present. As the first opponent was speaking, she managed to infuriate and aggravate every one of the surrogates present. (Hasn't she been been told not to tick off a pregnant woman?) According to her, surrogates are "uneducated, underprivileged women who just rent out their womb for profit." Not even kidding. (Coincidently, of the 7 surrogates present, 6 have bachelors degrees or higher, 7 are employed full-time, and 6 of us are married.) We managed to not say anything but each of us exchanged looks and eye rolls with one another as she tried to portray us as money grubbing, uneducated, women incapable of making informed decisions. 

To make a long story, well, shorter than the 50 minutes our session took, the Senate committee PASSED our proposed bill, allowing it to go to the Senate floor by a vote of 5-3. Unfortunately, opponents of this bill are going to the Senate floor this morning to request that this bill go back to yet another committee, thus stalling it in committees which would cause it to die this legislative session. (Feel free to write to your Senator this morning and ask them to NOT allow this to go to another committee and just proceed with a floor vote. I can give you the info on how to do this if you would like.)

We were all very excited last night (at 10:30) when we finally left the stifling hot Senate room. We are confident this bill is a very good step for the future of surrogacy and there are a lot of us who are working hard to make this happen! 

Looking out for future miracles. 

Proud surrogates after the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing