On Jan. 20, singer Meghan Trainor announced the birth of a baby girl, Mikey Moon. The baby is Trainor and her husband's third child. As a mom, I'm happy for the couple. Babies are a blessing, and I hope they are thriving as a family of five.
However, the announcement came with some fanfare and criticism, as Trainor said the baby was born via surrogacy. While I have no desire to blast a tired mom enjoying her newborn—I know how difficult postpartum can be, though not if you haven't carried the child yourself—I'm afraid that high-profile stars choosing surrogacy normalizes something that commodifies women and babies. I don't think this is healthy or good.
Trainor experienced complicated pregnancies and births before, and said this is why she chose to use a surrogate with her third child. In a statement to People posted Jan. 21, Trainor said, "We had endless conversations with our doctors on this journey, and this was the safest way for us to be able to continue growing our family."
A pop culture outlet posted the photo of Trainor and her newborn on X, and several users responded with cynicism and criticism. Newsweek reported that Trainor received an "onslaught of hate" over choosing to have a baby via surrogacy.
Trainor isn't the only Hollywood star to have a baby this way. Stars like Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Elton John, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas have all had babies via surrogacy.
The topic of surrogacy sparks debate for good reasons, but it's also increasingly common. In a paper defending surrogacy, the Cato Institute said that "gestational surrogacy has become more common as the technology has improved." Still, the World Center for Baby reports that only about 750 babies are born this way each year.
I understand many families sincerely want children and cannot, for a variety of reasons —from infertility issues to health problems. As a mother of four, I like couples who want children. But I want to be careful of normalizing and glamorizing something that puts a price on a woman's womb, commodifies her reproductive capabilities, and then disrupts her nine-month bond with the baby she's carried.
While there is an upside to surrogacy, it can provide a path to parenthood for people who cannot have a child —the means itself are problematic. Using a gestational carrier, as it's often referred to among medical professionals, is expensive, averaging $125,000 to $200,000 in the U.S., making it prohibitive for many hopeful parents.
But my problems with surrogacy go far beyond cost, although it's a red flag: Pregnancy is no walk in the park. I can't imagine most women would volunteer to be pregnant on behalf of someone else, unless they felt it was a last resort for them or experienced some financial pressure to do so. This raises questions for me about surrogacy potentially exploiting vulnerable women.
The cost of surrogacy also, quite literally, puts a price on a woman's womb —something that is inherently unique and priceless. Women are uniquely able to give birth, thanks to God's design, and many women like myself enjoy pregnancy. Surrogacy, by definition, commodifies a woman's womb to the highest bidder, even though selling organs is a federal crime. Surrogacy is perhaps more like "renting" a womb rather than selling it, and in this way, the results —a newborn —justify this commodification.
My biggest concern with surrogacy is the ethical challenges it presents to the natural bond that occurs between the surrogate mother and the baby she carries in her belly. Even without trying, the baby and mother develop a unique bond: By 16 weeks of gestation, the baby can hear its mother's voice. The baby lives and thrives solely on nutrients and oxygen from mom's blood, which passes into the baby's bloodstream through the placenta. When moms give birth, they're encouraged to continue bonding through skin-to-skin contact, reassuring the baby of their unique and strong attachment.
I have empathy for people who want children. I hope Trainor's family is doing well. But I don't think we as a moral society should encourage commodifying and exploiting women, and forcing the disruption of the natural mother-child bond.
