Should Surrogacy be legalized in Taiwan

 yenlin ku  27/05/2024

The Ministry of Health and Welfare introduced a draft revision of the Assisted Reproduction Act last week, adding a new chapter to legalize surrogacy. It specified that "surrogacy should be an altruistic act, not a commercial endeavor for profit." Accordingly, the draft recognizes the surrogate neither as the biological or legal mother of the child nor as a paid laborer. It prohibits the use of her eggs in the conception; and she must surrender motherhood to the intended parents at the birth of the child. Yet she could receive no wage except a limited amount of compensation for nutrition or supplements, required counseling, medical care, transportation, insurance, and loss of work hours. However, she is obliged to perform motherly duties and adhere to the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act, refraining from tobacco and alcohol. Moreover, on top of previous experience of pregnancy and childbirth, she must work non-stop for over nine months at the risk of her own life and health.

I am not a ciswoman

Yenlin Ku, May 2024

Recently I filled out an application form for a seminar on mental health and sexual violence in Taipei. The gender section offers three options: cisgender female (the Chinese translation meaning conforming female), cisgender (conforming) male, and other. After some consideration, I chose "other". Definitely I am not male. I am female, but nonconforming. For half a century I've been a feminist, dedicated to breaking the social constrains set upon women. Am I not a woman if I refuse to follow the stereotype of “woman”? Sojourner Truth’s centuries-old question: “Ain’t I a Woman?” echoes in my head, though we asked the same question for different reasons.