He’s tired of hearing it
More from the PhD candidate in Catholic ethics who is searching for a “carrier” to gestate a baby for him and his husband:
This is a very stupid argument and I’m tired of hearing it. The medical and legal term for a woman who carries a child is “carrier.” The only thing this argument shows me is that those who make it lack any understanding of this issue. https://t.co/sSIC1rOibV
— Brandon Ambrosino (@BrandonAmbro) July 14, 2019
Stupid. A stupid argument, he says. Stupid and made by people who lack any understanding of the issue. (Would that apply to boodle, who already has the PhD and has produced two babies recently?)
What jumps out at me in that revolting tweet is his complete, self-satisfied, oblivious lack of empathy for women. I find it stunning that a guy who wants to find a woman who will gestate and give birth to a baby for him feels comfortable publicly dismissing women who point out that they are more than “carriers” – dismissing them and calling them stupid and uninformed for good measure.
I can easily believe it’s true that in certain contexts professionals do refer to “carriers” when it’s necessary to distinguish them from gestational parents aka birth mothers. In certain limited contexts that may be acceptable for convenience. But for the men in the equation? Who will never do this particular form of hard labor for anyone? For them to call the women “carriers” in public, on Twitter?
Not even close to acceptable.
Contempt and hatred for women is making a strong comeback these days, and callous shits like this guy are one of the reasons.
Oh you’re tired of hearing it are you. Well clearly the correct solution to that is for us to shut up.
jesus.
(side note: I wonder if he treats his husband this way. “Oh, you like the thermostat at 71 and I like it at 69? Got it, we’ll keep it at 69 then.”
I could see it going either way. Maybe he’s just an irredeemable shit to everyone; or maybe he’s willing to compromise only if the other party is male, which still makes him an irredeemable shit but just limits his victims to a circumscribed group.)
Isn’t ‘surrogate’ the usual term for the woman having the baby? Still, it could be worse, I suppose. At least they aren’t referring to the women as ‘wombs’ or ‘incubators’.
Also, I wonder why the TRAs aren’t all over this blatant example of transphobia. We all know now that men can get pregnant, yet this bigot only ever mentions women. For shame, sir, for shame.
I hope he doesn’t become a parent, unless he becomes a whole lot less self-centred.
In New Zealand, such arrangements are covered by the HART Act (Human Assisted Reproductive technology Act). The word carrier never appears. I’ve never heard it used in the context of this topic. It’s a big world and NZ law and social norms don’t apply everywhere (obviously), but if we talk about carrier in a medical context, we’re talking about a disease or genetic defect. Ok, so children might qualify…
In NZ law, in the context of this case, a person gestating a foetus is termed variously as a woman, surrogate or donor.
If the woman has provided the egg, she is the [female] donor parent. If she gestates the foetus she is the surrogate mother. Generically she is ‘woman’ and ‘parent’.
Interestingly, Section 4(c) of the Act – Principles, states:
“while all persons are affected by assisted reproductive procedures and established procedures, women, more than men, are directly and significantly affected by their application, and the health and well-being of women must be protected in the use of these procedures”.
I doubt that extends to insisting on dehumanising language such as ‘carrier’. I really would have thought someone studying ethics might realise that. Then again, they’ve chosen to study ‘Catholic Ethics’.
See AoS, now I’ve followed you…
If he is tired of hearing adults trying to rationally point out that the word he is using drops some critical aspects of meaning in describing another human being….he should probably not try to be a parent for a 3-year old.
Funny, I have read a lot of works about surrogacy, and I have never heard the word “carrier” before. It may be a medical and legal term, but you would think that would be addressed in the literature. I’ve usually heard it as surrogate (or occasionally donor, but mostly surrogate).
Naif #5
Good point. I wonder if the offspring would survive that long.
Rob, I guess it’s true about great minds thinking alike :-)
Clearly what the English language needs is a word for “female parent”.
If this trend of dehumanising mothers continues in this direction, what’s the next descriptor – vector??
Maybe if we all put our heads together, we could come up with such a word.