The history of surrogate motherhood dates back to biblical times. In fact, some people say it goes back to Sarah and Abraham. Some people say that it began even before them, and that Abraham is only recorded about because he was written about in the Bible. In many countries, surrogacy has been around since before registries. Many cultures have belief systems that abide by the rules of surrogacy and those who disagree may be kicked out of their families. Numerous religions and civilizations actually celebrate surrogates, for their good works and service to others. During the 1980s, surrogate mothers were used by the gay community to build their families, then it was frowned upon by society.
The American Indians were the first to really start the surrogate mother story in this part of the world. So we’re looking back to 1899 for the start of this part of the story. If an Indian woman was found to be infertile, then her husband would go to the head of her tribe and ask for help. He would then be sent to see the healer, who would give the wife certain herbal concoctions. Then, after the sorcerer said that nothing could be done to help his wife, the husband would go to see the chief. He would be allowed to take another woman and impregnate her, hopefully so that he could father a child to carry on her tribe. The barren wife would not have relations with the child. She would stay with her biological mother.
American Indians were not the only civilization to use surrogate mothers to carry on the family name and bloodline. In recent European history, it has been heard, especially in Spain, that the kings welcomed several surrogate mothers until a child was born. The child’s surrogate mother would become the nanny for all royal children. The children would be believed to be genetically related to the king and queen. Never knowing the truth. Obviously, things like this were kept secret, because if not, there would be questions about his right to the throne.
Today, we are fortunate that due to technological advances in this field of science, a woman can feel secure knowing that even if another woman is pregnant, her husband or partner has not had physical relations with the surrogate. Such things have, in the past, caused battles and disputes between the people involved and it is quite understandable. The technological solution has saved many families a lot of headaches.
In America, the first surrogacy agency was opened by a lawyer named Noel Keane in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He went on to create many more agencies that complied with surrogacy agreement laws. Since then, there have been over 30,000 births due to surrogate motherhood arrangement laws. Society obviously feels that surrogacy is a viable solution for infertile women and gay men. There will always be critics, but if they could look at it from a different angle, they might see something different and even end up with a different point of view.