Perez Hilton Welcomes Baby Girl & Shines Light On Surrogacy Issues
Perez Hilton welcomed a beautiful baby girl named Mia Alma this weekend through surrogacy. The Cuban-American celebrity gossip columnist already has a 2-year-old son. “The dream of being a parent is something that many Americans share. Gay AND straight Americans both use surrogacy to start to add to their families. Yet it many states, surrogacy is illegal,” he stated on his website.
Surrogacy is when another woman carries and gives birth to a baby for a couple or an individual that wants a child. Typically donor sperm can be used for traditional surrogacy or In Vitro Fertilization can be used to place the embryo into the uterus of a gestational surrogate.
Unfortunately, only 17 states in the U.S. have laws that allow surrogacy, and each state has their own restrictions. In 21 other states there’s either no law or a published case regarding surrogacy. In 5 states surrogacy contracts are void and unenforceable.
About 10% of women or approximately 6 million women in the U.S. ages 15-44 have difficulty staying pregnant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Another third of the program is due to men as well.
