MFA Blog
Meet the hosts of “I Want to Put a Baby in You”
Podcast hosts—and sisters—Jennifer White and Ellen Trachman of “I Want to Put a Baby in You”
A Lone Wulf: Meet the Father of Gestational Surrogacy
The 1986 Baby M case marked a major turning point in the history of surrogacy in the United States, not only because of the ethical quagmires it exposed but also it coincided with the beginning of (mostly) the end of traditional surrogacy in the United States. In 1985, a South African-born Cleveland- based gynecologist and reproductive biologist named Dr. Wulf Utian wrote a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine. In it, he stated that he had created a baby using a surrogate’s uterus, another woman’s egg and her husband’s sperm.
I am not your Sapphire
“I am not your Sapphire” Essay by LeAndrea Fisher, an infertility advocate and Detroit high school teacher of 25 years. She established Hope In Fertility, a ministry that serves to help the hurting and heal the broken. LeAndrea is also the founding Co-Chair of the Detroit, MI Walk of Hope; the first Michigan Walk of Hope partnership with RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association.
An Inside Look at MIAD 2021
In the lead up to Michigan Infertility Advocacy Day (MIAD), Michigan Fertility Alliance (MFA) took on a number of current and recent University of Michigan graduates, all of whom are connected to the school’s Women’s and Gender Studies department. Their work has been integral and immeasurable in helping us make MIAD specifically and MFA in general a success in pushing to change the surrogacy laws in Michigan. Three members of our Advocacy Team were able to jump on calls we had with lawmakers and get a behind-the-scenes look at what a grassroots movement looks like. We asked them to write up their reflections of that day focused on the question ““What does advocacy look like to you after MIAD?”
Periscope: Infertility & Race
According to the Centers for Disease Control’s 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, infertility is higher among married couples when the woman is non-white, with the incidence of infertility highest among Black women at 20%, followed by Hispanic women at 18% and then white women at 7%. Researchers found this was likely in part because of environmental factors, including living in more concentrated urban settings that can lead to more exposure to things like air pollution and toxic waste. But lifestyle aspects were also likely to play a part. Black women, for example, are more commonly affected by fibroids, which are non-cancerous tumors in or around the uterus that can be part of the reason a woman cannot have a baby. Obstruction of the fallopian tubes, also known as “tubal factor infertility”, is also more prevalent in Black and Hispanic women.
When Surrogacy is Your Only Hope to Become a Mother
MFA board member Alex Kamer was born with a congenital heart defect that prevented her from being able to carry a baby. Last year, her Indiana-based surrogate gave birth to their son. The MFA’s Parker Kehrig spoke with Alex about her experience as an intended parent in an out-of-state surrogacy.
Kehrig: How did you come to surrogacy?
Kamer: We [Alex and her husband] met with families who had gone both routes [adoption and surrogacy], just to try and learn as much as we could. We spent a year information gathering and having conversations with people. I don't think we ever really were like, ‘We feel 100% about one of these directions’, but we felt more driven, I think to try the surrogacy route to see if we could have a biological child. We wondered if we went the adoption route, if we would have regrets later on in life about not at least exploring the surrogacy option. I don't think that adoption is totally off the table, maybe we'll still do that someday.
A Gestational Carrier’s Personal Story
Nicole Cowles is a three-time gestational surrogate out of southern Indiana, carrying for a Michigan couple for the second time. She is a mother of three who also works at a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. The MFA’s Parker Kehrig, interviewed Nicole about her experiences with out-of-state surrogacy.
Excerpts: Kehrig: What brought you to surrogacy initially?
Cowles: My mother was a women's health nurse practitioner. In my teens, she had taken care of a few women that had cervical adenocarcinoma. They had to have hysterectomies at a young age, and I felt so bad for them. I was only 16 at the time
The ACLU’s Challenge to Michigan’ 1988 Surrogate Parenting Act
In 1988, Michigan became the first state to criminalize surrogacy contracts. This law made participating in a compensated surrogacy contract a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and up to one year in prison. Meanwhile, arranging contracts became a felony with penalties of up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine. Judge John H. Gillis Jr. of the Wayne County Circuit Court agreed to interpret the law to permit surrogacy contracts as long as the contract does not require the surrogate to give up her maternal rights to the child. In response, the Michigan branch of the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging this Michigan statute on behalf of couples who participated in surrogacy arrangements as well as prospective surrogate carriers. Robert Sedler, Elizabeth Gleicher, and Paul Denenfeld were the attorneys who represented the plaintiffs in this case. In 1992 the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the law intended to criminalize surrogacy contracts for women to bear children for infertile people was constitutional. In an interview with MFA’s Ginanne Brownell and Juliana Stoneback, Ms.Gleicher, now a judge on the Michigan court of appeals, spoke about this case and why she felt it was crucial to fight this antiquated legislation.
After Cancer, Becoming a Mother Through Surrogacy
After cancer, becoming a mother through surrogacy
Why is Michigan important to the history of global surrogacy?*
The state of Michigan holds an integral role in the history of surrogacy, not only within the U.S. but around the globe as well.
Before we get into all that, let’s define a few terms. Traditional surrogacy, which dates back to Biblical times to the story of Sarah and her maid Hagar, is the practice of a surrogate who also serves as egg donor. While this went on informally for centuries, the first recorded commercial surrogacy contract in the United States (and very likely the world) was brokered by the late Dearborn, Michigan lawyer Noel Keane in 1976.