Womb for Rent

Womb for Rent. Ellen Goodman gives a comprehensive look at the issue of surrogate pregnancy in her book “Womb for Rent”. The author’s main purpose is to introduce her readers to the side effect of surrogate pregnancy which is portrayed as a source of money in the society. The issue of surrogacy as an alternative for parental pregnancy has been criticized as a way of trafficking children, exploiting and selling babies. According to Goodman both commercial and altruistic surrogacy is inappropriate and totally advocate for this form of pregnancy labeling it a way of devaluing the child-to-be and disrespect the relationship between a child and the parents.
In Goodman appeal to logos infertility among women has increased the market for women selling their children and wombs especially from the developing countries. This has introduced intentional baby market where rich women obtain surrogate internationally. This has created a wave of women freely selling their womb to sustain their lifestyle since the market for a surrogate is well paying. Additionally, Goodman paints a clear image of the negative vice that follows the act of surrogacy as unethical and immoral. Goodman argues on the issue of poverty especially for a low-income female to opt to become a surrogate mother as a way of surviving (Goodman, 2012). She further claims surrogacy to dehumanize childbirth and fails to honor the child-mother relationship.
The author appeal to pathos is based on the tone of the article addressing the issue of surrogacy among women and its influence on the surrogate parent and the child.

First, the author engages respectfully in introducing the readers to the issue of infertility among women. She does not criticize or attack the surrogacy industry as she gives the reason as to why people engage in this act. She gives an emotional diction that brings the readers close to understanding why people opt for the use of surrogate by acknowledging the desire for couples to have children. The author brings out the emotion appeal making the readers decide whether the act is favorable or not. However, at the end of the body, the tone changes to reflect her emotional opinion concerning the issue of surrogacy. Goodman takes a stand on the issue of surrogacy claiming it is wrong not just for the parents but the children. Her conclusion creates a negative emotional appeal for the whole point of Surrogacy.
The ethical appeal is well captured in the book through the author unpleasant address of the issue of surrogacy. The author uses the fair and unbiased word to show her position on the whole concept of surrogacy. For instance, she uses world like “employees….while incubating ‘their’ children…” to show the unpleasant relationship between the surrogate mother and the expanding family (Goodman, 2012). When Goodman addresses the danger of this form of pregnancy, she uses red herring fallacy language to make the audience comprehend the adverse effect of surrogacy. Nonetheless, throughout the book, the author uses persuasive tone and language to make her readers avoid surrogacy since it is considered a child-selling business.
In summation, Ellen Goodman manages to bring out the negative image of surrogacy to her readers. Even though she approaches the topic at a lighter note at first, her conclusion is concrete on her emotional and logical position on the issue of surrogate pregnancy to be tainted by the business-oriented market that sells children.

Reference
Goodman, E. (2012). Womb for rent. In J. Ramage, J. Bean & J. Johnson (Eds.), Writing arguments: A rhetoric with readings (p. 169). Boston, MA: Pearson.