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Speaker 1: Welcome to vlat Subject Podcast. Our mission at Vlatimer Subject

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Ministries is to reach the world globally and disciple them digitally.

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Let's dive into this episode.

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Speaker 2: Can a Christian woman become a surrogate mother? And underneath

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that question are bigger ones a surrogacy just helping a family?

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Or does it cross a moral boundary that scripture and

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Christian ethics cannot ignore? What about infertility, real pain, real sorrow,

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real desire to have children? Am I just helping someone

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to deal with this pain? What about some modern surrogacy

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being a business with contracts, agencies and a lot of

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money that are being involved in this video? I first

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want to define what surrogacy clearly is, show the two

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types and give you some real world context as well

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as layout a Christian ethical concerns without pretending that this

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is an easy topic. What is a surrogate mother? A

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surrogate mother is a woman who carries and delivers a

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baby for another person or couple who will become the

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children's parents after birth. That are two types of surrogacy,

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each additional surrogacy. This is where the surrogu's egg is

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fertilized by the intended father's sperm or a donor's sperm.

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That means that a surrogate is the biological mother of

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the child. Now, the second type of surrogacy which is

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in high rise in our culture today is gestational surrogacy,

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and this is when an embryo is created through IVF

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using an egg and a sperm of an intended parents,

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and then it's implanted in a surrogate. In this case,

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the surrogate has no genetic tie to the baby that

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she carries. Now, surrogacy is becoming more common, especially as

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it's a solution for infertility and it's an option for

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same sex couples pursuing children. The rise is tied to

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both reproductive technology and shifts that are happening in our culture.

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And here are some snapshots to show the direction that

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this is going. CDC reported thirty thousand, nine hundred and

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twenty seven surrogate births in the US from nineteen ninety

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nine to twenty thirteen. Globally, surrogacy has become a major industry.

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Reports describe it as a multi billion market that has

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rapidly grown, and there is a disturbing part to this.

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In many places, there's no oversight there's no reporting. Surrogates

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don't always understand the medical, emotional, and legal risks. Now,

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in this video, we will look at five ethnical and

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biblical stances on this. But before we do that, I

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want to highlight something that there is a compensation that's involved,

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and some people do it for the sake of myndy,

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others do it to help other couples. And payment may

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vary by country and whether surrogacy is commercial or there's

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another version of it. But in the US surrogates can

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get paid from thirty thousand to fifty thousand dollars plus expenses.

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Some countries only allow aturistic surrogacy, where expenses are reimbursed

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but there is no additional fee. Here are five Christian

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ethical concerns biblical concerns concerning a Christian woman becoming a

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surrogate mother. Can a Christian woman become a surrogate mother?

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And underneath that question are bigger ones a surrogacy just

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helping a family? Or does it cross a moral boundary

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that scripture and Christian ethics cannot ignore. What about infertility,

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real pain, real sorrow, real desire to have children? Am

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I just helping someone to deal with this? Pain. What

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about some modern surguy being a business with contracts, agencies

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and a lot of money that are being involved in

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this video. I first want to define what surrogacy clearly is,

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show the two types and give you some real world

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context as well as layout a Christian ethical concerns without

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pretending that this is an easy topic. What is a

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surrogate mother? A surrogate mother is a woman who carries

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and delivers a baby for another person or couple who

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will become the children's parents after birth. That are two

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types of surrogacy. The traditional surrogacy This is where the

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surrogus egg is fertilized by the intended father's sperm or

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a donor's sperm. That means that a surrogate is the

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biological mother of the child. Now, the second type of surrogacy,

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which is in high rise in our culture today, is

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gestational surrogacy. And this is when an embryo is created

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through IVF using an egg and a sperm of an

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intended parents and then it's implented in a surrogate. In

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this case, the surrogate has no genetic tie to the

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baby that she carries. Now, surrogacy is becoming more common

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especially as it's a solution for infertility and it's an

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option for same sex couples pursuing children. The rise is

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tied to both reproductive technology and shifts that are happening

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in our culture. And here are some snapshots to show

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the direction that this is going. CDC reported thirty thousand,

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nine hundred and twenty seven surrogate births in the US

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from nineteen ninety nine to twenty thirteen. Globally, surrogacy has

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become a major industry. Reports describe it as a multi

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billion market that has rapidly grown. And there's a disturbing

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part to this. In many places, there's no overside, there's

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no reporting. Surrogates don't always understand the medical, emotional, and

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legal risks. Now, in this video, we will look at

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five ethnical and biblical stances on this, but before we

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do that, I want to highlight something that there is

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a compensation that's involved, and some people do it for

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the sake of money, others do it to help other couples.

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And payment may vary by country and whether surrogacy is

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commercial or there's another version of it. But in the

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US surrogates can get paid from thirty thousand to fifty

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thousand dollars plus expenses. Some countries only allow aturistic surrogacy,

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where expenses are reimbursed but there is no additional fee.

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Here are five Christian ethical concerns biblical concerns concerning a

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Christian woman becoming a surrogate mother. Number one is God's design.

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Procreation belongs inside heterosexual monogamous marriage. From a creation point,

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God sets this norm, and it's clear he designed children

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to be conceived and raised in a covenant un union

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of husband and wife, and God's command from the beginning

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was be fruitful and multiplied. The creation story from Genesis

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one to two sets this pattern male female marriage and family. Now,

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God does appear to have allowed exceptions in the fallen world,

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like divorce was permitted by Moses, but Jesus still said

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it was not God's original plan. Even polygamy existed or

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was allowed in certain ways, though the reasons aren't fully

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clear in the Bible. What we have to understand is

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that just because something happened historically does not mean it's

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justifiable today. A lot of what we see in the

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Old Testament after Genesis one and two account is a description.

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It's not a prescription as what God would want to see. Now,

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some might argue and say, well, surrogacy was actually in

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the Bible. Surrogacy like arrangements were used by patriarchs. Example,

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Abraham in Genesis chapter sixteen, and he had a relationship

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with Hagar, but it was disastrous Jacob in Genesis thirty

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with Bila and Zeppla, but it also created a lot

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of disastrous results. Now, some may argue, well, that's not

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surrogacy because it involved sex with servants or concubines, and

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they are right. It's not identical to modern IVF surrogacy.

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These women were part of the ancient household structure, and

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because Hagar belonged to Sarahi, according to the worldview of

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that day, it was seen differently than adultery outside of

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the household. And so what makes this even more sobering

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this account of surrogacy is that these people weren't paid,

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it was most likely not consensual, and it involved servants

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who had very little or no choice. So these examples

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do not give modern Christians a green light. If anything,

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they actually warn us how messy and how painful surrogate

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type arrangements become. The second thing is creation. Does carry

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massive weight in Christian ethics. So not only dorees a

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creation story in Genesis, and we see the mess that

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surrogacy arrangement type created and families. All you gotta do

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is just read Abraham's and then Jacob's accounts. But we

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also see throughout the New Testament that creation is not

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a minor detail in the scripture. It's one of the

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main foundations for Christian moral reasoning. For example, Jesus appears

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to creation to define God's original intent for marriage. Paul

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argues against homosexuality by appearing to God's creation design. In

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the Romans Chapter one, in light of Genesis one and two,

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Paul addresses women's roles to explicit a to Genesis one.

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Paul also describes elder qualifications with one wife language, again

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driving point back to Genesis one. What does this mean

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Genesis one and two. It's not just history, it is

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God's blueprint. Therefore it carries weight in how we view

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what is allowed and what is not allowed. Number three,

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The womb is not a neutral rental space. This is

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where the modern surrogacy tries to normalize something Christians should

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not treat as neutral. The womb is not just a

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container that provides nutrients and shelter. Pregnancy is deeply formative physically, emotionally,

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and psychologically for both the mother and the child. So

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with the traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is legally recognized as

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the mother because she has both the aspects of the motherhood,

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generic and gestational. Now, with the gestational surrogacy, where the

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embryo is implanted, the surrogate is often treated legally as

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a prenatal babysitter, a human incubator with no rights to

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the child. But biblically and humanly, pregnancy is not detached,

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just like that a womb is not like a room

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you rent from somebody in the house. You bring your

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furniture and you get out. What we must understand is

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that fatal cells can cross from the placenta into the

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mother's bloodstream and remain in her body for years, meaning

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the mother can carry the cells from the child with

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the child's DNA long after the pregnancy. Also, mother's cells

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can cross into the baby and integrate into the child's

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tissues and potentially influencing child's development. So a surrogate experience

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is carrying the child, bonding with the child, and it's

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forming a relationship, even if she tries to not create

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that bond. So to treat pregnancy as a service you

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provide is to treat something sacred like it's merely mechanical

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or transactional, which is even biology tells us it is

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not so. Number four, Surrogacy turns children into commodities. This

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is one of the most painful parts, but it's also real.

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When the large sum of money at exchange, the child

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will start to look like a product, something that's bought,

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something that's transferred, and something that's delivered, rather than a

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gift from God. The Bible is very clear that every

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child is made in the image of God. Every child

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has a dignity and worth, and life is sacred, not transactional.

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Commercial surrogacy reduces this sacred reality that we are made

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in the image of God to a contract objectifying the

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child and often the woman that's carrying the child. And

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the last thing we must consider is surrogacy is the

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key path to parenthood for same sex couples. Homosexual couples

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consider surrogacy after other fertility treatments, or pregnancy is medically unsafe.

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For the same sex couples, especially male couples, surrogacy is

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not just an option, it's the only path Christians. The

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Bible is very clear why homosexual relationships go against God's

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order and God's created plan. I have a whole video

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on what is the Bible teaching homosexuality and you can

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check that out later. So practically, surrogacy becomes part of

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a system that separates conception from marriage and in many

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cases separates children from their biological mother by design. So

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how do we respond? So we can and we should

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and acknowledge the sorrow of infertility. It's a real grief

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longing and for a lot of people it's real tears.

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But sorrow does not automatically justify every single option. As

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someone with my wife who couldn't have children for over

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thirteen years, I do know how that feels. But I

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like what theologian Wayne Grudem puts it, and he puts

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it sharply, and I think it's worth hearing it. He

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recognizes the sorrow of childlessness, but he also says that

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sorrow is no reason to overstep the moral boundaries that

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God has sat in his word concerning the conception and

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bearing of children. So can a Christian woman become a

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surrogate mother. I don't believe that a Christian woman should

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become a surrogate mother, especially in these commercial arrangements, and

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the reason is very simple. Surrogacy asks a woman to

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use her womb in the way God did not design

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it to be used. It fractures motherhood. It treats pregnancy

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like a service, the woman like a space to hire,

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and too often the child like a outcome of a contract.

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God designed things and they're not in random from creation.

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Children are meant to come into safety of a covenant

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family marriage, a husband and wife who unite, conceive, carry

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and raise child as one family. Surrogacy breaks the unity.

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It separates conception from marriage, It separates pregnancy from parenthood,

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and it places a sacred human life inside of financial

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and legal transaction. It normalizes a system where children can

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be intentionally separated from the woman who carry them. And

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while the Bible does record surrogate like situations like Hagar,

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it does not present them as ideal to copy. And

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it shows the pain that comes from when people try

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to produce God's promises through human shortcuts. Yes, infertility is real,

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suffering is real, but suffering is not a license to

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step out of God's moral boundaries. So my answer is no,

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not because I lack compassion, but because I believe God's

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design is worth protecting, and because children are not commodities,

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they are image bearers of God. Let me know your

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thoughts in the comments below. Thank you for watching this video.

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Since twenty twenty, our ministry has reached over two hundred

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even into prisons and closed nations. But that's just half

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of the story. We're building homes for vulnerable kids in Brazil,

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supplying food and hygiene and Meymar, helping refugees in Ukraine,

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and partnering with missionaries and some of the most dant

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places on earth. If this ministry has blessed you, I

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want to invite you to partner with us monthly or

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one time. You can keep making this eternal impact. Let's

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reach more, serve more, and love deeper. Would you join

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us today to reach more people for Jesus by being

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a partner of this ministry. And you can do that

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by going to Pastavlad dot org for a slash partner.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to this episode. I believe that

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you would encouraged, strengthened, and convicted. If this was a

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blessing to you, would you help and share with your

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friends as well as maybe on social media and leave

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a review on the podcast where you are consuming this content.

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It will help us a lot. If God puts on

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your heart to become a partner of this ministry, go

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to Pastorvlad dot org and you can become a partner there.

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God bless and remember you will raise to deliver