To change this, mothers need to be supported, listened to, cared for, and celebrated from pregnancy on. All mothers and infants deserve exquisite, delicate, compassionate care from conception on. A care that gives mental health the same consideration as physical health.
We human beings are born expecting to meet our mother. The baby in the womb has a very clear idea of who its mother is, no matter how much the disassociation is promoted from outside with the argument that ‘it is not genetically theirs’. Surrogacy is an orphanhood (equivalent to losing your mother during childbirth) planned by the same people who defend their right to be mothers or fathers at all costs.
Surrogacy, childbearing for others, is a very hard experience, a form of extreme reproductive exploitation in contexts of gender violence and economic poverty, that generates significant suffering for those who go through it and with high risks to their physical and mental health in the short and long term. As feminists and health agents, it is urgent that we make all these impacts visible.
On June 7th I was called to declare again as an expert in the new trial against a Costarrican mother, who gave birth in the
Susanna Carmona Cañabate is one of Spain´s top neuroscientist, specializing on the maternal brain. A few years ago she co-authored the pioner work “Pregnancy leads
“There is not such a thing as a bad baby, it does not exist. All babies are born in love with their mothers. They love
Birth the English version of Parir, el poder del parto, is now published and available trhough amazon
On the 8th September 2021, the Court of Criminal Appeal of San José, Costa Rica, decided to annul the trial in which a mother had been declared guilty. In the previous sentence, issued on the 3rd February 2021, it was agreed, unanimously, that Yoana was guilty of attempted manslaughter of her son; for which she had received a six-year imprisonment sentence (with the possibility of an electronically monitored house arrest as an alternative for the imposed sentence).
Cooperate or compete. Trust or fear. Share or fight. Accompany or isolate. In the end, there are only two states: love or fear, and one
