Home > Journals > JCRED > Vol. 33 (2019-2020) > Iss. 2
Abstract
(Excerpt)
“My water broke; the baby is coming! Come now!” Normally, a woman in labor makes this frantic phone call to her partner, who would immediately drop whatever they were doing to be by her side at the local hospital and be present to welcome their child into the world. However, this scenario is not the reality for many couples across the United States. For example, there is a New York couple who have a different story to tell their daughter about her birth. Brad Hoylman and David Sigal received a phone call a month before their baby’s due date from their surrogate, a woman who lived across the country in California, to inform them that she was having contractions. Mr. Sigal had a more flexible schedule, so he was able to fly to San Diego while Mr. Hoylman stayed behind in New York. The contractions were a false alarm; four weeks later, the baby was induced, and both Mr. Sigal and Mr. Hoylman were able to fly back to San Diego to be there for the birth of their daughter. Luckily for this couple, they could afford the multiple last-minute flights across the country from New York to California. However, if the early contractions had not been a false alarm, Mr. Hoylman would likely have missed the birth of his daughter. Many people will wonder why this couple took such a huge risk by using a surrogate who lived miles away from them. While using a surrogate in New York would have been the most cost-effective and less stress-inducing option, New York is one of the last few states that have statutorily banned commercial gestational surrogacy.