Did anyone see ER last night? (surrogate episode)

[KCT]

Did anyone see ER last night? There was a young girl carrying a child for another couple. The girl did not want a c-section, but the bio parents wanted her to have one. The girl refused, the baby was deprived of oxygen and born w/ serious neurological problems. The bio parents left the baby at the hospital w/o ever seeing him, because they didn’t pay for a defective child.

ER has presented touchy subjects before. I thought it was brave of them to portray the bio parents as being so cold - purely consumers of a child. The show presented what could happen in surrogacy situations.

Who else saw it? Thoughts? --KCT

 

[carol_marie]

I saw it. I thought it was so sad. I thought the birth Mom was so selfish as well… I wondered if she would’ve agreed to the c-sec if the baby was “hers.” I think so… considering she didn’t even want to see him. I didn’t judge the bio parents… I think they were, at that point, so terribly frustrated and disappointed. They said they had tried for 5 years… did in-vitro only to have her miscarry - and now this. I think they felt that it was so out of their control and now their baby is basically brain dead (?) because of someone else’s stupidity.

I think the OB did everyone a huge disservice by not insisting that the girl have the c-section. She is such a cold woman though (the doc) … I’ve never liked her character.

While my heart breaks for those who can’t have children, I think surrogacy is not the way to go. Just because we have the technology - doesn’t mean we should.

On a side note… how sad was it for what’s his name (the Black doctor) to go to the swim meet & hear his 1/2 brother say that his Father never mentioned him? That was just so sad.

 

[Katie1723]

carol marie:

…I think the OB did everyone a huge disservice by not insisting that the girl have the c-section…

Sad to say, even in a case such as this the patient has the right to refuse “treatment”…meaning she CANNOT be forced to have a C-section. She should have been presented with the consequences, but ultimately the decision is hers.
~ Kathy ~

 

[carol_marie]

Katie1723:

Sad to say, even in a case such as this the patient has the right to refuse “treatment”…meaning she CANNOT be forced to have a C-section. She should have been presented with the consequences, but ultimately the decision is hers.

~ Kathy ~

Hi Kathy
Is that true… a patient can just say no?
I ask because several years ago when I was preganant w/ my first child I had terrible morning sickness - throwing up day & night and I mentioned to my OB that I actually threw up a bit of blood. He sent me to the ER and they insisted that I have a tube threaded through my nose down into my stomach. It was soooooooo horribly painful… I kept saying “NO NO NO… I don’t want that!” And the very mean nurse said if I didn’t hold still she was going to get three people to hold me down. It was the most awful thing and has made me terrified of ER’s in general - like by walking through the door I’m handing myself over to a bunch of doctors & nurses I don’t know or trust.
Was that nurse wrong in not listening to me?

 

[kaymart]

My sister told me about the show and this is what happens in real life when babies are for sale. If the product is defective, you don’t have to accept.:bigyikes: This is also in the case of when its Twins, the couple only wanted one. and prefer a boy, being the other is a girl they “send back” the child they don’t “need”. Ever since the Baby M case this mess is getting worse and worse. Surrogate Mother’s and the like such as donor eggs and donor sperm should be outlawed but you know as long as there is a demand it wouldn’t. About donor sperm and eggs has any one every thought about possiblity of brother and sisters or first cousins getting together and getting married??? without anyone’s knowlegde until THEIR child is born with defects???

 

[KCT]

kaymart:

My sister told me about the show and this is what happens in real life when babies are for sale. If the product is defective, you don’t have to accept.

ER has shown some liberal attitudes in other episodes, so I was glad to see how they handled this one. The bio parents just wanted a product. They left their child at the hospital w/o even looking at him. I’m hoping it will make people think. —KCT

 

[Mom_of_one]

I had planned on watching it at first, but then I avoided it. I thought that it might upset me. ER used to be one of my favorite shows, but then one of the docs “discovered” she was a lesbian, and I’ve tried to watch only the older episodes from then on. Anyway, sounds like I’ll have to watch it next time it’s on. My belief is that if you choose to be a surrogate mother, you have to accept all the possibilities—including a C-section. And if you use a surrogate, you need to accept that things happen, but this is YOUR child. And that should be in the contract! You both did this to bring a child into this world, deal with the consequences! Tough tooties if things aren’t perfect.

That said, I absolutely think surrogacy is wrong. My sister offered to carry a baby for me after I had 2 miscarriages. I turned her down. But it was so sweet of her to offer.