Ethical Dilemmas of Surrogacy: Christian Discourse in Contemporary Socio-Cultural Context

Abstract

The article assesses bioethical issues of surrogacy from a Christian perspective and the possibility of adopting a cryopreserved embryo in the current socio-cultural context. Pregnancy of an adopting woman represents only a visible, technical similarity to the surrogacy; it is now commonly called “snowflake adoption.” In fact, such a pregnancy implies a different meaning and different goals. The study considers the following ethical dilemma: an invasion into marital union while using surrogacy for embryo adoption versus the potential death of an embryo in the absence of surrogacy. Any person, as Christian anthropology claims, originates from the first moment of conception. Therefore, respect for personal dignity includes the preservation of life and health at the embryonic stage even in a cryopreserved state. The potential death of a frozen embryo would be considered a more significant ethical evil than the intrusion of an adoptive mother into a marital union. Thus, snowflake adoption can be ethically justified to save a cryopreserved embryo if a woman adopts it and will raise the born child.