Couples with infertility often turn towards adoption or the legally ambiguous nature of the black market to acquire a baby to raise. In such cases, they either have to wait during a length adoption process or pay exorbitant fees to a black market broker. However, what if there was an alternative in the form of a baby market? It is the assumption of this paper that a baby market may be a better alternative to the current system that often does not meet demand and contributes to instances of abortion due to the high cost of raising a child.
One of the negative predictions created by the article is the possibility that creating a pricing system for babies could lead to a case of eugenic alteration in the human race. This would be brought about through the economic process of supply and demand wherein “baby breeding” could become an established practice. Evidence of this possibility can be seen in the initial information provided in the article where demand for Caucasian babies outstrips the current “supply” so to speak despite the availability of a large amount of African American infants (Landes and Posner 348). Lawmakers can make use of this information by limiting the “production” of babies only to couples that have been shown to have fertility issues. This helps to potentially remedy the possibility of a particular niche of children being created just for the purpose of fulfilling market demand which could result in a potentially disastrous outcome for the human gene pool.
A positive prediction generated by the article takes the form of the reduction of costs when it comes to acquiring children if legalizing the “baby market” were to come into effect. The article implies that the current black market costs of “buying a child” are high due to the illegal nature of the act. The cost of bribes, the potential for blackmail, the medical fees for the mother and other miscellaneous costs drive up the “price” for babies resulting in exorbitant prices. By legalizing the purchasing of infants, this ensures that the process of supply and demand goes into effect as well as sufficient legal protections for the couple that wants to purchase a child. Lawmakers can make use of this information by enacting laws that specifically prevent the “price” of baby purchasing from exceeding a certain amount. Not only that, since the process is legalized, lawmakers can also stop instances of “blackmail” via the implementation of new legislation that enacts protections for the adoptive parents in cases where the mother of the baby is trying to extort money from them. The article states that there is already sufficient precedent for this to be put into effect since adoption agencies do charge fees to their clients in exchange for their services. A more expanded version of this can be put into effect wherein particular children can be “purchased” through a more streamlined process.
The last prediction made by the article focuses on the social reaction to the creation of the “baby market”. It implies that there may be significant social resistance from parties who would view the “market” as being distinctly immoral since it turns children into commodities. Though the article does imply that such a market could be better as compared to the alternative of abortion that is currently in place. It was stated that one of the reasons why women opt for abortion is the financial cost of bringing a child into the world as well as having to care for it. Lawmakers can take this into consideration by applying new laws that help to reduce the risk of children being bought by unfit parents as well as limiting the number of instances that a woman can contribute to the “market” to limit cases of women getting pregnant simply to sell their baby.
All in all, by having a “market” available for the child, this would help to reduce the number of cases of abortion.
Works Cited
Landes, Elisabeth M., and Richard A. Posner. “The Economics of the Baby Shortage.” Legal Studies 323.26 (1978): 347-348. Print.