Surrogacy: Who is it really benefiting?

As I sat in my last lecture for my Legal Studies class: Sex and Reproduction, I was thinking of all the new material I had learned regarding surrogacy. So why not talk a little bit about it. There three different types of surrogate mothers:

• Genetic surrogacy or partial surrogacy: This is the most common type of surrogacy. Here the egg of the surrogate mother is fertilized by the commissioning male's sperm. In this way the surrogate mother is the biological mother of the child she carries.


• Total surrogacy: Here the surrogate mother's egg is fertilized with the sperm of a donor - not the male part of the c partum ommissioning couple.

• Gestatory surrogacy or full surrogacy: Here the commissioning couple's egg and sperm have gone through in vitro fertilization and the surrogate mother is not genetically linked to the child.

To begin, who really benefits from surrogacy? In my opinion, it is the intended parents. This can either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how one looks at it. Although there is always debate on this issue, i will discuss one of the many debates: taking advantage of the poor to obtain a baby. Many times women who seek for surrogate mothers are wealthy women. And although hiring surrogate mothers to carry babies is illegal, most of the times, if not all of the times, women who are hired to carry the babies are women who are poor and do it for the money. The rich are exploiting the poor!

I find this really interesting because although this is meant to help both parties, the wealthy get a baby and the poor receive money for their services, this is a big issue, because there are times when poor women have to do this because they really do need money and not because they are 100% sure they want to carry someone else's baby. there have been cases where surrogate mothers get attached to the baby, that eventually they do not want to give it up and if they do they suffer from serious effects after giving birth.

Also, because it is more expensive to hire surrogate mothers in the United States there is this argument that third world women are being exploited as well and treated like baby Machines. Paid surrogacy in India, for example is legal and more women are willing to get hired, and their services are used more often because it is cheaper.

Finally, another issues with surrogacy is that children are becoming more of a commodity, parents are designing their child, choosing from a list to see what traits they want their child to have, ect. One problem with this is that because surrogacy is becoming more popular, children in foster care are not being adopted, and their stay period is becoming longer. There are so many children who need a home, so instead of looking for a surrogate mother to carry a baby, adoption should be a primary option for having a child. If all fails surrogacy should be their last resource. 

http://www.positive-parenting-ally.com/ethics-of-surrogacy.html

Disaster "Relief" in New Jersey

Find the article here! http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/30/fema-sandy-aid.html

Although Superstorm Sandy occurred a year and a half ago, the people of the states of New Jersey and New York are still suffering. As devastating as the actual event was to the people living in the area, the aftermath and lack of support is the real tragedy. FEMA has just discontinued support although Many people relied on FEMA money after the hurricane to pay their high rents while their houses were being rebuilt. New York and New Jersey promised better support at the time of the incident, but little has been done to help former home owners; many are still paying for expensive temporary housing with little sign of return or aid to rebuild their old homes. These expenses leave very little money to pay to remodel homes to fit state standards, especially for people who were low-income to begin with. The applications for state government aid have been notoriously slow to respond, unclear in their language, and not reaching underserved populations such as non-English speakers. There have been many cases and paperwork lost as well. Clearly something is wrong with the process currently in place.

The Fair Share Housing Center, a legal team based in New Jersey, piloted the "Sandy Bill of Rights," a lists of the rights that people recovering from the superstorm should be entitled to. The legal team is urging the governor to sign the bill of rights to show his true commitment to the people of New Jersey. The rights include:  

-The right to a plain language explanation of the application process for any recovery funds;
• The right to know why an application is rejected and to appeal that rejection with a specified timeframe;
• The right to know current status of an application and position on any wait list;
• The right to access information in English, Spanish, and any other language spoken by impacted communities;
• The right to a review of racial and ethnic disparities in funding and corrections of any problems;
• The right to have funds distributed by amount of damage and not based on political or other considerations;
• The right to transparent information online about how funds are being distributed.

The Bill of Rights acknowledges that government-aided recourses are distributed unfairly, leaving poorer and more disadvantaged people even more at risk and in debt. This Bill of Rights seeks to provide better services to lessen the inequality of the resources distribution and make the modes of doing so more fair.

What do you think? Is this another Katrina? Do disasters and lack of relief reveal government insufficiency? Can grassroots organizations, like the Fair Share Housing Center, make a change in government operations?

Health Care as a System

In Atul Gawande's Ted Talk: How do we heal medicine, he discusses the transformation of health care and the ways in which we can begin to fix a broken system. Today our deepest crisis of medicine, is the cost of health care globally. We have gone from pre-penicillin days (1937) in which medicine was very cheap yet ineffective, to today where we have treatments for nearly all conditions. The foundation of medicine and doctors has been to be independent, self sufficient, and autonomous. However, self sufficiency has become a disaster for medicine. Gawande notes in his talk that 2 million people come into hospitals and pickup and infection they didn't have, all because someone failed to follow basic hygiene practices. He goes on to say that the most successful hospitals in giving treatment to patients are ones that look like systems.

He highlights three key points that systems allow. First they have the ability to find where successes and failures are, second they devise solutions, and third they have the ability to implement. The key point that Gawande discusses is through devising solutions. In medical care, his solution is to have checklists, like other high risk industries do (ex. aviation world). These are tools to help make experts better. After implementing checklists in 8 different countries, ranging from rural to urban areas, complication rates fell 35% and death rates fell 47% in every hospital. The implications of this information is huge for the medical world. By implementing something this simple, it allows for hospitals and medical staffs to work more cohesively together and give more successful treatment.

This Ted Talk made me think of the ways in which going into my practice experience, how gaps could occur with staff and patients. By creating more of a system, although requires people to embrace a different set of values from the foundation medicine has grown on, medicine can be more successful and perhaps in the long run less expensive.


http://www.ted.com/talks/atul_gawande_how_do_we_heal_medicine#t-1136248

Under-rated of the month: That teacher in high school that was so inspiring and challenging that you still keep your essays and the class readings in your room back home.

     That person for me was my AP World History and Honors Comparative Literature teacher. In comparative literature class, he had us watch the movie "The Mission," which was a big hit when it premiered. I talked to other teachers about the movie and they all loved it, especially since some of them lead mission trips to other countries. They found it inspiring.

     My comp. lit. teacher, on the other hand, had us analyze it more deeply. We all came to a similar analysis: the main character (a Western man) isn't truly helping these indigenous people.
     In the movie, the Christian men were presented in a way that made them seem like they were living in native villages and relating to the native people. The nuances of the movie showed the true discourses that the writers/directors thought of when making the movie. The natives were never fully dressed. They always seemed to laugh, smile and make primate-type sounds. The natives who did speak, spoke perfect english because they were educated at the newly erected mission. The white men ate with silverware and on shiny plates. The natives learned how to play Western music on a flute.
     It seemed to me and my classmates that these missionaries were held up as greater beings. They were the classic saviors-of-a-primitive-culture disguised at good guys. Sure, they suffered in their pasts but did they suffer with the people that they came into contact with? I argue not.
     A justified summary of this message comes in the form of Paulo Freire's Dedication Page from his book "Pedagogy of the Oppressed": To the oppressed, and to those who suffer with them and fight at their side. 
     If we are to truly impact the situation when we work domestically or abroad, I argue that we must step into the situations of the oppressed. We may never feel the true pain of a homeless person seeking health care or a 40 year old Bolivian who never received the proper education to read or write. But we must at least make wholehearted attempts to enter their world and suffer. Nonetheless, I have no idea what this may look like in practice when I travel to Bolivia.
     One thing that always struck me during comp. lit. was the fact that my teacher never stood up in class. He sat down with the rest of us and acted as a facilitator of discussion. Instead of standing on a stage and speaking with power, as most teachers do, he gave that power to us. It was the best class I ever took.

My funding wars

So, on a more personal note, I'd like to blog this month about the struggle that is funding for me this semester.
It began in February, unable to get in touch with my organization in Senegal in time to get my ishh together to apply for the GPP Fellowship, and not realizing I could submit it incomplete, I dug myself into a pretty deep hole. The walls seemed vertical at times, anxiety and stress kicked in as I began to tear up as I wondered if I could even continue on my original plan to go to Senegal this summer and work with urban farmers and their organization, Provania.

However dark this hole appeared to me at moments, I actually see it as a great, super harsh, but super effective learning lesson. After my mistake with the GPP Fellowship, I have found out about the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship... two days before the deadline. Thank goodness for the literature review, because it helped me a lot in writing my research proposal - my plan, the context and existing background information or debates, and its impact potential or place in this great world/sector/area. Not to mention it gave me a bit of credit as a applicant to already be in the process of researching and writing a literature under the guidance of Lauren, our GSI, and Clare Talwaker, a notable name on campus. After scrounging together everything I needed for applying for a fellowship (first timer), such as my transcript, major verification, the proposal, a loose budget, my qualifications, contacts, etc., and a very kind Faculty Adviser, I submitted my application. & I am very grateful to be able to say that I received it!... AND they'd give me an opportunity to introduce human subject into my research (interviews, and I had applied for the non-human subjects fellowship because of a the deadline)!

... And then, I met eProtocol. My newest super galactic obstacle course. I completely understand that research involving human subjects should go through an intense board review, so I don't wish to talk down the process or its necessity at all, but I do wish to warn you all. If y'all are planning on being a main investigator, or are for some other reason in charge of filling eProtocol to Berkeley's Review Board, I highly suggest going to a workshop or talking to someone, because that thing is TEDIOUS. At times, the questions are simple, and the answers are easy, but there's just so many! With CITI training, it literally took me two weeks in between regular school assignments. At times I just wanted to ... not be nice to the computer. Being prepared for that would have really helped a girl out, here. It's funny because right after I submitted it, Chetan sent out  this announcement:

DIL Workshop: IRB Approval Process

Date: May 7, 2014

Time: 1:30pm-2:30pm

Location: Blum Hall, Room 200G

Learn about the IRB Process and how to get approval for research that includes human subjects. 

I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU GO! 

I'm currently on the editing process, replying to comments of my reader, and am looking forward to also feeling very proud about finishing the eProtocol lesson, and gaining those skills.

Finally, my journey has come to Indiegogo. Writing my own campaign (made easy after writing the literature review and the proposal, now) and officially asking my friends, family, strangers, and all affiliated networks for money for my first time, also. I have to say, although it's not as formal or fancy as GPP or Fellowship applications, doing this has also taught me valuable things: to get over that awkward social thing of asking for money (because I'm not just asking for nothing, I believe in what I'm doing, so I just need to own it), and to learn how to change my academic jibberish into real English for all sort of peoples from all sorts of backgrounds to understand and want to support. It's kind of like I'm doing my own PR and outreach. & At the same time, I get to spread the word about urban agriculture, about food, about research, and about what I think about those things. 

You can find my Indiegogo at:

 igg.me/at/asiagoestoafrica


It's been a struggle, it's been real, it's been a pleasure. I hope you all are set, and ready to go with money. And I hope it wasn't a struggle, but if you're in the same as I am, I just want to say that I think we're stronger now, and that it was a good journey. We can do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peace <3 Asia

Half The Sky...Do we celebrities to tell us about the injustices of poverty?

In 2009, husband and wife team, Nicolas Kristoff and Sheryl Wuudon published ‘Half the Sky’ a novel addressing pressing women’s rights issues ranging from sexual violence, sex trafficking, maternal mortality, girls’ education to economic empowerment. I saw the film adaptation of this book last year.

Take a look at this excerpt from a segment about sex trafficking in Cambodia. What do you think of it? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LZheCJXjco

A reoccurring theme in ‘Half the Sky’ is celebrities traveling to distant parts of the world to account their powerful encounters with poverty and their witness to injustices relating to women’s rights.  In this excerpt, Meg Ryan briefly describes her experience in Cambodia, very much reinforcing the “gaze’ of the tourist. Although I believe in this film’s message and enjoyed parts of it, this quality turned me off. Why do we need to hear about the horrors of trafficking by a celebrity? So we can relate to them more, as a Westerner encountering the developed world, or to attract more public attention for the film? I personally don’t find this directing choice necessary. In this clip, Ryan praises Kristoff for his efforts against trafficking, but I don’t think that this film should be focusing on him at all, but simply the issue itself. It made me feel that the film was partially produced to boost Kristoff’s reputation as an advocate for women’s rights, rather than simply let the women tell their stories. What do you think? 

Does Global Warming Cause Violence? Ted Miguel at TEDxBerkeley

Professor Ted Miguel notes that Africa is growing economically, and it will be a major contributor in the global economy in the upcoming years. Yet, it is one of the most unstable regions in the world, plagued by corruption, civil war, and unstable governments. Miguel found that this instability and violence is likely to worse the situation, and Sub-Saharan Africa will see some of the highest social impacts of global warming.

As dire as this situation seems, is this violence and increased conflict inevitable? Is it possible to take steps prevent these acts from happening? Furthermore, is global warming going to become an excuse for our actions i.e., "I couldn't help it--the heat caused me to act violently." It is imperative that we look at the costs of development and convenience through a social, as well as environmental, lens.

Mass Incarceration in the United States

"Being tough on crimes (is not the same thing!) as being tough on criminals"

This video illuminates the problem of mass incarceration in the United States. The war on drugs and tough on crime policies and ideology have resulted in the surge of the incarceration rates in the United States. Over the past three decades, the number of prison inmates in the United States has increased by more than 600 percent. I have even read Michelle Alexander's great book arguing that this phenomenon is the "New Jim Crow" in the age of colorblindness. On my end, I am more interested in the post-incarceration policy to mitigate such complex problem: such as the "ban the box" movement which is gaining support. One notable organization at the forefront of this is “All of Us or None,” a nonprofit grassroots organization based in Oakland that is dedicated to eliminating discrimination against ex-offenders, and has propelled the Ban the Box campaign nationwide. Currently, 50 cities and counties and 10 states have taken the important step of removing unfair barriers to employment in their hiring policies. Adopting the policy widely known as “ban the box,” these initiatives typically remove the question on the job application about an individual’s conviction history and delay the background check inquiry until later in the hiring process. Of those ten states, four states—Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Rhode Island—have banned the box for private employers, which many advocates embrace as the next step in the evolution of these policies. These initiatives are due to the prevalent discrimination practices towards ex-offenders in job applications. Positive outcomes have been shown and better outcomes are anticipated from this ban-the-box movement such as lower recidivism and giving equal chance to ex-offenders to reintegrate into society. Although there are more rooms for advocacy with regards to the lives of ex-offenders such as housing, education and welfare discrimination, - the focus on employment will substantially propel more reform to come, I hope. As Michelle Alexander sarcastically notes in, “[a]fter all, criminals are the one social group in America that nearly everyone – across political, racial and class boundaries – feels free to hate.” Through discriminatory practice, it made me reflect upon this occurrence: that we “boxed” in the lives of ex-offenders with endless suffering; perhaps we should analyze who are really impersonating the role of “offenders”.

Poverty in the United States

"Poverty in America: Why Can't We End It?"

This article begins with a quote from Ronald Reagan "We fought a War on Poverty and Poverty Won".  The United States a wealthy country that does not suffer from the infrastructural lackings of many countries in the global south still reproduces a society with poverty. I have often heard the bafflement from the poor in other countries as they consider the possibility of there being poverty in a country that is supposed to be the land of opportunity. Although this article does not provide for an answer to why there are poor amongst our midst it does stop the romanticization of poverty as something far away. Additionally it stops the misconception that through development all poverty will alleviated.

"The Harlem Miracle"

"The Harlem Miracle"

This New York Times article by Brooks is about the Harlem School Zone, an educational program in New York City that transformed the lives of low-income children by addressing their specific needs through an understanding of the disenfranchised communities the children came from. The article additionally, yet seemingly unintentionally, depicts the increasing cost of gaining a higher education and the way that the university is again becoming an institution of the elite instead of a tool in upward mobility within the United States. Institutions of higher learning do not meet the needs of the low-income student and without programs like the Harlem School Zone the low-income student is not properly equipped with the institutional savvy to to navigate the university. However the problem goes beyond education; the reproduction of class status within our society is an issue that must be addressed at the institutional level in order to bring about true longstanding change. 

 

The use of education as a poverty alleviation tool depicts how reformers like Brooks believe that widespread institutional level programs are not necessary to achieve goals in societal transformation. After having read the piece by Katz I see that the Harlem School Zone program stops at the People level of poverty alleviation. Brooks as well as the Harlem School Zone program assumes that the success of the students is in large part due to the inculcation of "middle-class values" to the poor students. This postulation places poverty as a problem of the individual and consequently there is no addressing of how the miracle of Harlem can be incorporated to the entire nation.

Leslie Dodson's TEDxBOULDER talk: relate to discussion on visual documentation

This talk reminded me about our discussion on visual
documentation and how they tend to intensify suffering, generalize suffering,
and “present subjects as passive and viewers as comparatively active.” These are
actually evident when the speaker showed pictures of “the utterly distressed
[…] the displaced, [and] the hungry.” These are indeed real ethical dilemmas
surrounding the ways in which poverty is portrayed in media and or in research.
While these issues are serious, I personally find it hard to deny the fact that
somehow there is also good that we can get out of them. For one it raises
awareness and educates other people who may have never neither encountered nor heard
about poverty in X country. And while yes they might be limited to a single
snapshot or 2D image that the photographer thought was “the” representation of
poverty but it is still something, in fact maybe that was what it all takes to
spark motivation for poverty (or any kind of) action.

Nonetheless, I am still left asking what then IS the right
way to depict poverty so that it is not intensifying/romanticizing it, or
generalizing, or present subjects as passive (and viewers active)? Is it even
possible?

Thoughts?

I Will Travel to Bolivia at a Historic Time this Summer

     I will be entering Bolivia at a very interesting time. For the first time since the establishment of the country, an indigenous president was elected democratically. Bolivia has seen much progress since it revolution in 1952. Evo Morales is a fascinating president who has given cocaleros, coca leaf growers, a great deal of autonomy despite pleas from the United States and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
     The coca industry is not only illegal, but it is also larger than any legal industry in the country. At one point, a jailed coca baron offered all of his profits to pay off the country's debt for his release. Although this never happened, it clearly illustrates the billions of dollars that flow through this black market. Here is a long video that discusses Morales's political party and his plans for the future. Skip to 18:00 to watch what has happened as of recent to the cocalero movement.
     As I enter Cochabamba, Bolivia, I will be experiencing blockades and tear gas on a regular basis. I can't be more excited!

Preparing for College in Kindergarten

          A New York primary school recently canceled an end-of-the-year play for kindergarteners. The reason? The teachers and administration “are responsible for preparing children for college and career with valuable lifelong skills and know that we can best do that by having them become strong readers, writers, coworkers and problem solvers,” according to a signed letter sent out to the parents. Basically, the school felt that the putting on a play was not an effective use of the kindergarteners’ limited studying time.

Although I personally find this premise ridiculous, I assume the parents enrolled their kids in this school with knowledge of just how seriously it took college readiness. If the parents dislike it, they can switch their kids to other schools. But there is a more serious underlying issue here – as the wealthy start preparing their kids for college in kindergarten, students in less intense schools will fall further behind in their competiveness. Students who have been trained to write college application essays from the age of five will undoubtedly be at an advantage. And since a college diploma is one of the biggest determinants of a well-paying career and success in this country, a vicious cycle will be propagated. The rich will get richer as they become even more advantaged in the college admissions process, while low-income students will struggle or be trapped, unable to get acceptance letters from the top universities.

Canceling a kindergarten play may seem like a minor event, but I think it speaks to larger issues of educational inequality in the United States. I don’t know what the best course of action is, but I know that the current trend is unfair and, quite frankly, makes no one happy. Regardless of background or aspirations, kindergarten should be a time of finger painting and picture books, not standardized tests and studying.

The article can be read here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/04/26/kindergarten-show-canceled-so-kids-can-keep-working-to-become-college-and-career-ready-really/?tid=pm_pop

The Effect of Climate Change on Climate Conflict

Climate, conflict, and African development: Edward Miguel at TEDxBerkeley

The world--most of its educated population, at least--seems to be relatively aware of the geological and environmental implications of rising temperatures. In his Ted Talk, our very own UC Berkeley adds another dimension to the discussion: increased violence and conflict, a detriment that is often overlooked. He reveals studies that predict that a mere 2 degree increase that is meant to take place by 2050 will increase violent conflicts by up to 40%.

Narrowing in on development in Africa, Miguel discusses the economic turn that the continent is taking: slowly, but surely, in the last 15 years Africa has seen increased economic growth, incomes, and population. This turn could potentially go bleak with rising temperatures, and consequently, increased conflict in a region that already faces considerable violence and corruption.

He claims that while the 2 degree increase in temperature will have negative effects worldwide, these effects will be especially present in Africa. This is largely because African economies rely extensively on agriculture, and because there is

African economies rely extensively on agriculture, where the majority of the population still work as farmers. Further, African farmers typically don't have irrigation, relying instead of rain-fed agriculture. Therefore, when rains fail, crops fail, and incomes plummet. In the event of a drought and dropping economic activity, government resources and services dwindle and sadly, it is all too common for militias and opposition groups to step in.

Will this become a hindrance to Africa's recent economic turnaround?

According to Miguel and the studies he uses to evidence this assertion, the answer is a resounding yes.

80% of African countries have suffered from armed conflict for at least a single year, though much more commonly, they last for years, and sometimes, decades. The result is the wrecking of society: incomes drop (eg: In Sierra Leone, average incomes fell by 40% during its civil war from 1991 to 2002), thousands to millions are displaced, injured, or killed.

If global warming were to take place, temperatures rise, and violence arises, armed conflicts such as that which devastated countries like Sierra Leone will become and more prevalent, hindering the progress that Africa has been making in the past ten or so years.

If this is the case, what can the world do in response? What can Africa do in response?

Miguel's answer: "A worldwide research effort is already underway, getting started to try to solve these problems. How can we do that? Some scientists are developing new crops that are resistant to extreme climate. Others are trying to figure out how we can introduce insurance schemes--maybe weather insurance schemes--to help African farmers adapt to climate change. But the truth is: we don't know the answer. We're trying to find out the answers ... Of course the best solution would be not to have global warming in the first place; the best solution would be to reduce emissions enough, so the world doesn't warm by two or three or four degrees Celsius in the next few decades."

Climate change is not Africa's fault, and Africa should not have to pay an excessive and excruciating price for the global warming.