Posie Parker was criticized after she criticized Olympian Tom Daley for having children via surrogacy, claiming that "baby trafficking should not be celebrated."
Daley, who is married to Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, won a silver medal in diving at the Paris Olympics in front of Black and their sons, Robbie and Phoenix. His medal was his fifth overall, marking his triumphant return to the world stage after effectively retiring from the sport following his success in the same event in Tokyo several years ago.
BBC News shared a video of Black, who said that it was “so special” that their children witnessed Daley’s victory and discussed the “different level” of effort Daley put into training to impress their children.
But shortly afterward, Parker, whose name is Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, responded to the BBC’s social media post with the following bigoted message:
"Baby trafficking should not be celebrated or normalised. Those poor babies stolen from their bonded mother at birth, it’s as inhumane as it gets. We wouldn’t do this to dogs. I criticise all surrogacy, not just men who do it.”
You can see her post below.
A gestational carrier, also known as a surrogate, is a woman who carries and delivers a child for a couple or individual.
Surrogate mothers become pregnant through in vitro fertilization (IVF). In this procedure, doctors fertilize eggs from either the intended mother or an egg donor with sperm from either the intended father or a sperm donor to create an embryo. Because the gestational carrier does not contribute the egg, she has no genetic connection to the child.
While women make up the majority of those who benefit from gestational surrogacy, it is a viable option for male same-sex couples who want to have children, like Daley and Black.
Black previously shared that he and Daley chose "host" surrogacy, in which the gestational carrier has no biological link to the baby. An American surrogate carried an embryo created from a set fertilized by both Black and Daley, using eggs from a different U.S. donor. In accordance with California law (where their first child was born), the surrogate underwent extensive screenings to confirm her voluntary and informed participation.
Although Daley is a U.K. citizen, Black pointed out that U.S. surrogacy laws are both complex and more advanced than those in the U.K. They are designed to help ensure that gestational carriers are not exploited.
Parker was swiftly called out for her statements.
Surrogacy, especially when it involves financial compensation, has faced criticism from conservative voices.
Daily Wire host Michael Knowles earlier this year called it "grave, grave child abuse" and stated that "Everyone involved is gravely, gravely evil… [including] the egg donor [and] the people purchasing the child.”
Notably, Knowles' fellow Daily Wire host, the far-right Matt Walsh, likened voluntary surrogacy to "human trafficking" and claimed that it's "far better for a child to be raised lacking one of his arms than to be raised lacking one of his parents" in a rant against same-sex parents.
Sadly, this framing of surrogacy as "trafficking" is in keeping with Pope Francis' recent declaration calling the practice "deplorable." All of which certainly belies their claims to being pro-family.
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