ETHICAL BOUNDERIES: MOTHERHOOD AND BABY-SELLING

Hearing about babies being sold or abandoned and left for dead and later discovered alive always shocks me and really strikes a chord. It makes me wonder how inhuman that person is to be able to just discard of an innocent and helpless human being. But it also makes me wonder what that person’s situation is to be able to push the parent to that extent. It made me recall an award-winning movie called “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang” (You Were Weighed and Found Wanting, Lino Brocka, 1974 movie). It depicted the pitiful plight of a woman who had gone crazy in search for her child who was the result of an illicit affair and forcibly aborted by the child's father. And there was this colleague at work whose neighbor's daughter and her friends were victimized at a bar when she and her friends went out for fun. Their drinks were spiked with drugs. They all woke up in a motel and she tragically was the only one who got pregnant. Despite this, the family decided to keep the baby not knowing who the baby's father was.

There is no denying the sacrifice of a mother in giving life to her child. Her own life and well-being are at risk whatever condition she or the baby have. But motherhood comes in many forms. Each individual is distinct from the other, their stories unique and diverse. One cannot simply judge based on face value or what society portrays. There are complexities that have to be considered that may have driven them to make certain decisions. But there are other ways to solve the problem of unwanted pregnancy or the lack of finances that drive others to terminate their pregnancy or bear children and sell them for adoption. 

.Technology has played a vital role in opening doors to scientific breakthroughs on having children such as test tube babies and surrogacy. These have become viable options for people with fertility issues or simple desire to have their own biological children without having to go through the pain of giving birth or to not have to deal with relationship complexities of having a partner. Can one just be unemotional and detached to easily let go of the child borne from her womb because it was conceived due to a contract? Such arrangements do happen and are often accepted by the willing surrogate mother and the parties involved. The process is “transactional” and maybe devoid of emotional entanglements between the surrogate mother and the biological or adopting parents.  

Sadly, not all women have a choice as some surrogate mothers. There are babies born from so-called baby farms and sold to prospective parents willing to adopt them. The business of baby selling thrives because there are people willing to buy newborn children. It has given rise to organized crimes of kidnapping to impregnate young women and sell their babies off to buyers. 

It is even sadder when the mother herself sells her own child or volunteers to be impregnated for a fee out of dire need to feed herself and her family or other reasons. Poverty and greed of people who exploit women and children for profit remain to be major factors in this illegal trade. Yet there are those with many children who choose to keep and raise all of them despite their hardship in life as long as they are together. And there are those who also choose to keep the child despite the unwanted pregnancy and what society may say.

With technology, the baby trade business has further advanced to online selling through the internet or social media. Its prevalence and reach have expanded in both developed and developing countries. It is distressing to know that there are newborn babies in the Philippines even being sold for $6.00 or Php300.00 by their own biological mothers. According to Rohei Foundation 2023 statistics, the Philippines has an annual adoption rate of 237 vs. a recorded 5 to 7 million abandoned, orphaned or neglected children in the country. This is implicative of the known practice of adoptions being done illegally or improperly. 

Though there are local and international programs on responsible parenthood and laws on illegal baby selling or adoption, the illegal demand for babies in the market dampens efforts to minimize if not totally eradicate the problem. Baby selling is not new. It has been in existence since the 1920s or even earlier but with different methods or practices of “selling” a baby to the adoptive parents. These days, people opt to take the shortcut with less legal paperwork and totally erase the identity of the real parents by replacing the biological parents’ names on the birth certificate with that of the adoptive parents’ names. The biological and adoptive parents do not get to meet at all therefore leaving little or no trace of the biological parents’ identities.  

In conclusion, the ethical boundary between motherhood and the problem on baby selling or illegal adoption should be grounded on strong moral responsibilities that start from the family unit. There should be stringent support from society and the government through programs that educate its citizens, develop self-sustenance, and safeguard their well-being. This means protecting the child and mother’s well-being and upholding the integrity of the adoption process at all times. It is an effort that can only be achieved through close collaboration between government and non-government agencies to come up with programs that help uplift society and its people by providing a better means of livelihood, better education and information on responsible parenthood and a safe and secure environment.