Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Susan Spindler, Virago Press, $32.99.
Truthfully, there’s nothing quite like a mother’s love. As Princess Diana said: “A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s”.
Surrogate is as much a story about womanhood as it is about motherhood. To quote Ruth herself, “Contraception, abortion, infertility – they’re central to the physical and ethical experience of being female, but we never join up the dots and talk about them honestly”.
This is an eye-opening IVF journey, one in which a mother becomes a surrogate for her daughter!
It was a life Ruth Furnival had always dreamed of: a stellar career in television, a lovely home, a barrister husband and two grown-up daughters, Lauren and Alex. Then at 54 years of age, she felt restive and discontented. Caught up in an empty nest syndrome, and the menopause was behind her.
The story of a close knit family, Lauren and her husband Dan have been unsuccessfully trying to conceive using IVF for several years. They have almost run out of time, money and the emotional courage to continue treatments. It is at this point the idea of surrogacy is raised. Lauren still had four frozen embryos left, but her body was no longer able to carry a pregnancy to full term.
So when Ruth discovers that, with the right dose of hormones, she could carry their baby – they agree – out of desperation. At first, Ruth is invigorated by a new sense of purpose, but as her pregnancy progresses, long-buried events from the past resurface.
Not always likable, its Ruth’s viewpoint that governs.
Surrogacy isn’t cheap and it’s a “minefield.” The overwhelming repercussions are physical, emotional, spiritual, legal, international and financial. It has the potential to be an emotional and ethical nightmare for all concerned. It can also be looked on as a humane and generous act that transforms the lives of childless couples.
Well researched and compelling.
