Kidman's "gestational carrier" remark irks Australians (Roundup)

Jan 18, 2011, 3:29 GMT

Sydney - Australians are aghast that expatriate couple Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban described the unidentified surrogate mother who delivered their second child at a US hospital last month as their 'gestational carrier.'

'In those last two words, the woman whose body nurtured this child for nine months is stripped of humanity,' social commentator Melinda Tankard Reist wrote in The Australian newspaper Wednesday.

'The phrase is reminiscent of other terms popular in the global baby-production industry, such as suitcase, baby capsule, oven and incubator.'

It is not known whether Kidman and Urban, both 43, paid the surrogate mother - but to do so in Sydney, Kidman's hometown, is to be made illegal under legislation passed last year in the New South Wales state parliament and soon to take effect.

The Surrogacy Bill bans commercial surrogacy, either in Australia or by Australians who seek that service abroad.

A spokeswoman for state Attorney General John Hatzistergos said the new law would not be applied retrospectively, meaning that Kidman and Urban would be in the clear.

'The provision recognizes that some couples have spent a substantial amount of time and money on overseas arrangements before they were aware of the potential impact of the new Act,' the spokeswoman said.

Callers to talkback radio were also critical of the 'gestational carrier' reference, agreeing with Tankard Reist that it demeaned the surrogate and denied the psychological and physiological bonds at the heart of pregnancy.

They also joined with her in condemning a trend towards surrogacy by celebrities.

'The raft of celebrities hiring out surrogates to have babies for them has become almost a modern day form of wet nursing,' Tankard Reist said.

Kidman and Urban announced the birth of Faith Margaret three weeks after the fact, releasing a statement that said 'No words can convey the incredible gratitude that we feel for everyone who was so supportive throughout this process, in particular our gestational carrier.'

It has been reported the couple engaged a surrogate on the advice of doctors.

When she married country singer Urban in 2007, Kidman had two adopted children, daughter Isabella and son Connor, from her 10-year marriage to fellow Hollywood actor Tom Cruise.

Isabella, 19, and Connor, 16, live with Cruise and his current wife, Katie Holmes.

'What will be will be; it's in God's hands,' Kidman said, about the prospect of children, following her marriage to Urban. She gave birth to Sunday Rose in 2008.

After the break-up with Cruise, Kidman revealed she had suffered an ectopic pregnancy at the beginning of her marriage to Cruise and miscarried shortly after they parted in 2001.

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