Dear Friends,
Did you watch the coverage of President Trump’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un? In the middle of the coverage, CNN brought on former NBA player Dennis Rodman. Rodman famously visited the basketball-obsessed dictator several times in recent years. So, there on my TV was President Donald Trump shaking hands with Kim Jong Un, as Dennis Rodman, face adorned with multiple piercings and decked out in a red MAGA hat and online crypto-currency for marijuana t-shirt, cried emotionally.
I looked at my wife and wondered aloud, “Is this real life?”
The same question came to mind earlier this week while listening to an episode of the podcast Radiolab. The episode was called “Birth Story.” It covered the story of two Israeli men in a same-sex relationship as they sought to obtain children through egg donors, artificial insemination, and surrogacy. The men found egg donors in Ukraine and surrogates from India, but the surrogates were forced into Nepal, where surrogacy is legal. Eventually, they were granted parental rights to three children. Oh, and there was an earthquake.
Got that? Two men, four women, four countries, three babies, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and one earthquake.
Radiolab has a progressive slant. At no point do the journalists question the morality of same-sex relationships, the rights of children to a mother and father, or surrogacy. However, even these progressives do find themselves questioning the possible exploitation of poor women in the process and the morality of an international baby-making industry. At one pivotal moment, in the aftermath of the earthquake, 20 or more infant children and their gay dads are in one room at the Israeli embassy.
Did you know the United States has some of the laxest surrogacy laws in the world? In Kansas, the practice is virtually unregulated. At Kansas Family Voice of Kansas™, we acknowledge that there are complex questions of theology, ethics, and morality here and few simple answers. Yet, we know that for those who recognize the divinely inspired dignity of every life and God’s plans and purpose for marriage and family, these questions matter and must be grappled with, along with so many others, in this crazy 21st century world.
Grappling with the hard questions, the most important challenges. That’s what we do.
Will you help us keep Kansans informed about important issues, like surrogacy, by making a donation to Kansas Family Voice Foundation™ of Kansas today?
Sincerely,
Eric Teetsel
President and Executive Director