#What is Surrogacy

[canisalbus]

Hope you don't feel pressure to try to make Ear canon in any AU! I love cute kid OCs and seeing what characters could be like as parents as much as anyone else but I know some people can get overly insistent that artists give their characters kids as soon as the idea comes up. That being said I do have to admit what little you've shared about how they'd be as parents sounds very heartwarming. I'm a sucker for when someone is determined to make sure a kid has it better than they did when they were young like Machete would be, and how that can sometimes help to heal pains from their own childhood. Vasco would be wonderful too of course! He may have had a better childhood but I'm sure there are things he struggled with or wished could've been different. All fun ideas, but if Ear remains as just an idea that is absolutely okay!

Aw it's okay. A tiny bit pressured but in an encouraging/inspiring way, I don't think I'm going to lose sleep over it.

It would be really interesting to see how parenthood would alter their relationship and self-image, it could potentially expand their character into unexpected directions. Ear seems like a likable pup, they'd be a fun character to develope.

On the other hand I'm fond of their dynamic as is, I think they're happy that way. It's still typical that couples are expected to want to have children and start a family, it's seen as the norm and the next logical step after getting married. I like the idea of them feeling content and complete in their relationship even if it's just the two of them, and showing that the absence of offspring doesn't make their union any less valid and committed.

[appleciders]

thinking about kirayoshi struggling with mental health issues as he gets older. and there are so many reasons why it could be happening and also things like that don't have to have a reason why. but i'm thinking about kira, sitting in the aftermath of watching him deal with it—maybe they all decided it would be a good idea for him to go stay with her for a time, or maybe in this universe the o'briens never left—and just wondering. mothers' bereavement during pregnancy has been linked to impacts in later childhood development; there was hardly a child born on bajor unaffected by this, but to kira, yoshi should have been safer, luckier. yet while she carried him she fought a war and then lost latha, fala, mobara, lupaza, furel—saw them killed one by one in front of her and felt it in every piece of her being, nearly got yoshi and herself both vented into space in the blind agony of it. did her grief soak itself into his body, his mind, his pagh? how does she conceptualize that possibility? what do they say?

[trexalicious]

ChrisBaronSmith is reportedly one of Prince Harry's X accounts...🤣

A scrub is a guy that thinks he's fly And is also known as a busta Always talkin' about what he wants And just sits on his broke ass... TLC's 'Scrub' lyrics

[yuridovewing]

i understand the frustration with “i made this gay pairing cis x trans so they can still have biological babies” with no thought to other methods and how ppl assume thats the case when it comes to mothpool aus where mothwing is also the mother of the three, but also…. idk i kinda dont give a shit if someone wants to do that and i dont really think its inherently transphobic as long as its handled with care and respect.

what really concerns me about this debate is how some people are adamant that you cannot portray trans people having biological children in media or youre being disrespectful. and im gonna say as a nonbinary person who doesnt want children for themself- thats kinda fucking weird? like i understand that for some people, theyre trans themselves and theyre speaking from a place of dysphoria, and i absolutely get that, which is why i think the topic should be handled with nuance and diversity in trans characters, but like…. guys. pregnant trans men exist irl. trans women get people pregnant irl. trans ppl’s ability and right to parent and have biological children are being debated irl. we get denied the opportunity to adopt as well.

in a climate like this, are we SURE we want the stance on rewrites and headcanons in the silly cat books to be “if you portray trans characters having children, especially with a gay couple, youre a transphobic freak no matter what!” does it really matter? especially if its being done by a trans person handling the topic with nuance who has a lot of trans characters with varying perspectives?

obviously yes, remember that thats not the only way certain gay couples can have kids, remember that not every trans person is fully comfortable with it and keep that in mind, remember that surrogacy and adoption are also perfectly valid ways to give fan babies- but remember that there are OPTIONS. not that you need to condemn the idea of transgender parents in the first place unless they fit the very specific criteria of “proper transgender representation” and anything that dares deviate from that is proof the op is a transphobic monster (bonus points if theyre a trans creator bc i mostly see trans people getting shit for this and it kinda pisses me off. although idm if cis people do it either as long as theyre handling it with respect)

[harapeveco]

I wish I knew any Japanese fanfic sites I just know the knk and int fics are crazy over there

[lilyrizzy]

Daniel, my last echante order was delivered TODAY. What the fuck is WRONG with you

[kal-sharok]

Hi!! If you’re willing to talk about it/up for it I’d love to hear more about the slavophobia BioWare has in relation to their dwarves. No pressure at all of course bc I’m sure it’s taxing, I’ve just not seen this before and would love a resource to reblog about it if that’s okay. Thank you love your blog ❤️

hello! im actually glad you asked, i'll try to be as coherent as possible 😅 and no u i love yr blog!!

i'd like to preface by saying i don't think bioware invented anti-slavic sentiment in games or in general and isn't the only company, game or otherwise, perpetuating it. it's found all over the western world, most notably in western europe (where we're still regarded as 2nd class citizens, pairs really well with imperialism towards people outside of europe imo), but it also gained a significant boost thanks to the red scare in usa in particular (and continues to thrive thanks to the absolute chokehold mediocre american media keeps everything else in the world in).

im also no social sciences expert, but i do have first-hand experience on the short end of the stick and a couple of books in my have read list so let's say im qualified to rant on 🤭 it turned out quite lengthy so i've hidden it under the cut below!

when it comes to bioware, the first hurdle is already at their utterly haphazard character naming policy. there's a considerable number of dwarves who bear names that range from mockingly slavic-esque to full-blooded backwater serbian, now in yr local fantasy rpg! examples:

gorim saelac. while i do appreciate they tried to give a dwarf a mountain-y name (gora is basically any kind of steep pile of rocks with trees and dew and wildlife over it), "gorim" is how you would say "i am burning" in multiple slavic languages. this is one of the rare ones that are not hurtful and are hilarious instead (and tbh naming him goran, which is what i assumed they were going for, would probably be more ridiculous in the long run. for example i still can't take jowan seriously despite my love for the mage origin bc someone really yassified jovan and thought nobody would notice. wrong!)

lucjan and myaja. these two (along with maybe wojech "we couldn't spell wojciech" ivo) are the classic example of non-slavs butchering the hell out of slavic names bc it suits them better, which is also something commonly experienced by all non-western cultures and communities and a worldwide sign of disrespect. the in-game pronunciation during the provings gave me a physical rash. "myaja" in particular is still in my top 5 wtf moments in origins bc 1) what kind of stroke induced spelling is that 2) it reminds me of kids speaking dialect A mocking kids' dialects B by adding y sounds (which is what set the dialects apart in the first place) at unnatural spots and 3) maja /ma-ya/ would've sufficed perfectly for ethnic coding if that was the sole purpose of her character. do better! sure it was 2009 but from the little i happen to know about the world beyond the atlantic, you're just bound to run into someone of slavic descent in alberta (maybe not exactly polish but anyone would give you a closer phonetics match than... this). it's kind of amusing how 3 of bioware's founders have very slavic surnames and this keeps happening.

bogdan vasca. we don't know anything about him apart from the fact bianca davri was forced into a marriage with him and that his very dwarven parents considered him to be 'a gift from the god' (which is what his name means. theodore would be an equivalent) when naming him. the same clan of dwarves that preserved castes topside (which is why the marriage was arranged) and thus are likely to either believe in the stone (that they do not worship as a god) or nothing, certainly not a very human god with a very human, quite possibly mage (a completely alien concept from common dwarven pov) prophetess and a very human doctrine of considering anyone not human as lesser. the jokes are writing themselves at this point.

all of this naming business falls more into petty territory rather than being outright offensive, but it does bring us to the more serious manifestation — typecasting. the western media simply cannot fathom slavic people in roles that are not violent, volatile (i.e. berserkers, though there are other influences in there), constantly infighting and better off killing e/o (i.e. the diamond quarter, the merchants' guild, the carta) and relating back to thievery, addictive abusable substances and trafficking (i.e. the carta, but also official channels of lyrium supply from orzammar to the rest of thedas). as a slavic woman, it was exceptionally painful to see bioware join virtually everyone else in depicting us as women whose major purpose seems to be to engage in prostitution and surrogacy lite (i.e. noble hunters, most evident in beraht's grooming of rica brosca into the role of one). while these practices are tied to societies of woman-hating — and orzammar, if not all of thedas very much is one — i just take incredible offence in someone naming them integral (dwarven birth rates and the blight anyone?? i hated every moment of that) for a society that's previously been coded with people like myself in mind. of course im going to relate to how someone who looks like me is treated, that's the very purpose of casting. doesn't help bioware's cause that the bulk of npc's with slavic names tend to be lower-caste or castless - with exceptions such as some minor noble houses (houses ivo and harrowmont, possibly meino too) and branka (who's again smith-born and a whole villain).

by only allowing us to fulfill such roles, we are effectively barred from actually engaging storytelling to spend our eternity on the writers' back-burner. hell, even the witcher has been sanitized for the western eye (despite literally being made in poland) and i am yet to find a piece of modern media that doesn't reduce baba yaga to a quirky chicken-legged aesthetic (while also forgetting she's specific to the eastern slavic people). not to mention that if tevinter and par vollen are truly inspired by byzantine and the ottoman empire respectively, guess which mfs were both their vasals. now guess who built the deep roads and guess what tevene mages need to fuel their magic. if dwarves have already been declared the slavs of thedas, let's at least give them/us some space to be such.

[shimenchus]

it's so telling when someone says radical feminism is "white woman shit" and you bring up the fact that in many places such as africa or asia, the only feminism that prominently exists is radical feminism, and for those places it's just considered regular feminism that you get told those women live in places that aren't progressive enough for them to understand their actions properly. to say these women are too dumb to realize that their beliefs are "bad" simply because they don't align with western mainstream liberal feminism is rooted in xenophobia and racism, not to mention a lack of understanding of the struggles and violence women from these countries regularly go through, which can range anywhere from fgm to men rubbing and wiping their cum on the back of women's clothes in trains. but of course, as usual, there's no intelligent response to this so you just end up getting blocked or get rape wished on you.

[bobbie-robron]

Robert, look… having a kid with you… would be the best thing that ever happened to me.

14-May-2019, episode 2

[coochiequeens]

Well she is. 21 babies in just over a year to be exact.

Kristina has authored a book titled Baby's Diary. News18Join our Whatsapp channel

The feeling of motherhood is a special one and many experience it multiple times, choosing to have more than one child. Kristina Ozturk, the wife of a wealthy Turkish individual, stands out in this regard. Despite being only 26 years old, she has already become the mother of 22 children via surrogacy. Originally from Russia, Kristina, along with her millionaire businessman husband, 57-year old Galip, welcomed 21 surrogate babies into their lives between March 2020 and July 2021. Despite this remarkable number, Kristina expresses her desire for even more children.

Kristina’s eldest child, an eight-year-old daughter named Victoria, was born naturally from a previous relationship. Despite facing criticism for what some perceive as “buying babies,” this mother from Georgia remains steadfast in her decision to expand her family. Kristina has openly expressed her ambition to have even more children, aiming to reach a three-digit figure.

Her plans face challenges as her Turkish businessman husband was imprisoned in 2023 on charges of money laundering and document falsification. Fortunately, Kristina is supported by a team of 16 live-in nannies to assist her while her husband serves an eight-year sentence behind bars.

Kristina first met Galip in a club in Moscow, Russia and started a relationship in spite of the 31 year age difference between them. They started living in a lavish three-story mansion in Batumi, Georgia. In February last year, Kristina had paid Rs 1 crore 43 lakh to the surrogates.

Kristina has also authored a book titled Baby’s Diary, in which she shares her journey as a mother of so many children. She reflects that while much has been written about parenting, every day parents seek valuable insights from her to provide the best for their children.

Kristina’s unconventional path in parenting hasn’t been without challenges. She revealed an incident where one of the surrogate mothers expressed a desire to keep a baby after giving birth. As the baby’s genetic makeup consisted of Kristina and her husband’s DNA, the child rightfully belonged to them.

Although Kristina has openly discussed her aspiration for at least 105 children, she now intends to hold off on further steps toward that goal until her existing children are older. While she hasn’t dismissed the possibility of becoming pregnant herself again, she acknowledges the impracticality of doing so with a household full of young children.

[soaps-mohawk]

Is it bad that I don’t want to give birth? Like, I told some of my friends and family that I don’t want to give birth and they told me that I’d change my mind and I told them I wouldn’t and they get mad at me. I told them that I’d adopt kids instead to give them a home and living family but they say that doesn’t matter and count because they won’t be biological.

That's not bad at all!! I know a lot of people that feel the same way. Hell, I feel the same way. I don't want to give birth and I'm very against having children. I've known that pretty much my whole life since I was old enough to conceptualize children and parenthood (very young as a woman growing up in America), and I was always told I'd change my mind someday.

Well, it's been about 20 years and I haven't changed my mind at all. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. The constant societal pressure that every generation has gone through of "you have to have children otherwise your life is meaningless" has very much been challenged as of late with plenty of people realizing your life doesn't end as soon as you're old enough to have children. A lot of those people pushing that narrative shouldn't have had kids in the first place. The world would probably be a lot better off if people that didn't want kids but were pressured into it by society just hadn't given into that pressure.

There's plenty of neglected, abandoned children, and children in foster care that deserve love and support. So yeah, if you don't want to give birth, then there's nothing to feel bad about. You've made that decision and anyone that tries to tell you otherwise is only recycling the same societal pressures that probably made them have children they didn't want.

And if anyone says adopted or fostered children don't count, then kindly say fuck them and don't speak to them again. Same with people that say IVF or children born of surrogates. Just because you didn't give birth to your child no matter the reason, that doesn't make them "not your child." Hell I know there's people out there that say C-sections aren't "giving birth" because it wasn't natural.

Yeah, fuck those people and do what you want. It's your body, it's your life and they can either get over it or get out of your life 🤷

[yuridovewing]

Yeah, as a nonbinary person who could get pregnant but never wants to, I find the way fans treat trans cats having litters really weird. Like as long as you depict it with respect because trans parents deserve it, it's not hurting anyone. Plus it's unfair to trans fans who want to have biokids. I saw a Warriors Roleplay outright ban trans cats from having children that werent adopted with the excuse of 'listening to trans voices'. Ok, well not every trans person is uncomfortable with the idea of having children and its unfair to act like thats the case. YOU can be uncomfortable with having kids and thats fine, but just because something makes you dysphoric doesnt mean nobody is allowed to do it.

ABSOLUTELY! Ohhh I have thoughts about that RP... "you can NEVER portray trans characters having bio kids, they HAVE to adopt because trans people having bio kids is wrong!! We're doing this because we love trans people and we know that not a single one has had or wants children! This is helpful!! We're helping!!"

This stuff does have an effect on the real world, too (maybe not our silly little cat headcanons, but the general discussion around this topic in a wider range) When you insist that you can't portray trans people having kids, to the point you ban it in an rp or lash out at trans creators who do so, how do you think that reflects onto trans people who not only want bio kids, but have already had bio kids? That people like them are so uncomfortable, it is an insult to other trans people to acknowledge they exist? That they are an Other, something abnormal, something the trans community should never accept?

I get it. There are a lot of trans people irl who don't want bio kids because of dysphoria, among several other factors. Anon and I are two of them! And there WERE some people genuinely being reductive about the topic and just making a single trans character in a gay ship trans for bio kids. But what trans people are you helping by banning the discussion altogether? We aren't a hivemind. We're all individuals with different needs and preferences. If your dysphoria is SO bad that you can't look at other trans people who haven't met your standard for whatever reason and you demand that they stay quiet and not exist for your comfort... it's time to work on yourself. And if you're not trans and you're saying this, please shut up, holy shit stop telling trans people how to write our own characters or how we should headcanon things.

And to be honest, I've grown kinda sick of being policed around what kind of trans characters we're allowed to write. This attitude extends to stuff like dysphoria, whether a character has taken steps to medically transition (and you'll get snapped at no matter what!), portraying GNC trans people, and more. It's not as prevalent in the warriors fandom, I think, but it's become so nitpicked that I'm exhausted.

[trexalicious]

But Rachel clapped back earlier this month and insisted they weren't filming at a weed farm...🤔It's caused by the cannabis which is now legally grown in California — including at the farm where Meghan and a 50-strong crew will film much of her impending home-cookery series for Netflix.

[talaricula]

a rly underrated thing about crazy ex girlfriend imo is that it's one of the rare shows i know of that really spends time on exploring what the process of having children is like for queer ppl/for those who go about it "non-normatively". it's not even rly a main storyline but i still find it rly well-handled and touching.

[clitorphosis]

Banning surrogacy and making it universal crime is crazy, even crazier when this decision was made by a woman.

[awrtes]

hi just a little reminder that most jegulus shippers aren’t women-hating misogynists <3