On the intended-parent side of this surrogacy arrangement I feel confident in my decision about surrogacy. I know that S. and I are doing this for unselfish reasons and we are trying to follow the Lords plan of multiplying and replenishing the earth. I could go on and on justifying my stance but I won't. I KNOW that what I am doing is right and good and that should be enough for anyone else.
However, if I was to put myself in the shoes of a LDS potential surrogate I don't think that I could feel so confident. Knowing that the church discourages it would be big enough for me right there to not do it. How could I being strong in my faith go against advice of prophets? The only way I think I could justify doing it is if it was done completely out of charity (not getting paid to do it). My first potential surrogate apparently went through this same line of thought because she and her spouse decided that they would do it for free before they ended up backing out.
Surrogate potential #3 was the closest thing I had to an active/strong LDS surrogate. She had been a surrogate before she joined the church and had told me how amazing and life-changing it was to do that for another couple. She wanted to do it again for someone else. Too bad she ended up having a change in life plans when she got back together with an ex-fiance. Oh well.
In summary, if anyone LDS is out there looking for a strong LDS surrogate to volunteer to go against church suggestions (and get paid for it). Good luck with that. Not impossible, but very much next to impossible.
Hello, I stumbled onto your blog because I was looking for things about the churches stand on surrogacy. I had a friend at church today that said about five years ago her bishop told her it was not just discouraged it was against church teachings. Everything that I have seen and heard says just what you did about it being highly discouraged. I have not talked to my bishop about it but I have done a lot of praying and I feel very comfortable with my decision to become a GS. Thank you for doing this blog to help other LDS IP's and GS's.
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