Source The Citizen
According to Stephanie Jones, finding another woman in Michigan who had a baby via surrogacy is like finding a unicorn. “People hear surrogacy, they think Kardashians, they think celebrities, they think California,” said Jones, a Goodrich High School graduate. “It’s not abnormal, and in some states, it’s common.”
Surrogacy is the term for when another woman, a surrogate, carries a baby for another person. In most cases, the baby has no genetic connection to the surrogate.
The reason Jones has a hard time finding other people like her who had a baby via surrogacy is because Michigan is the only state that that has a ban on surrogacy contracts.
In 1988, there was a court case in New York, nicknamed the ‘Baby M’ case. The couple who wanted to have a baby via surrogacy, which in the 80s meant that the surrogate was also an egg donor, had a contract with a surrogate. After the birth of the baby, the surrogate decided to keep the baby and a court case ensued for parental rights for the baby. The state of Michigan did not want a similar situation, and passed legislation to not recognize surrogacy contracts.
