An Unlikely Bastion of Male Reproductive Rights ?

[Hermiod]

In a surprise announcement, Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has stated that he is now the father of a baby boy.

What's unusual here is that the mother of the child appears to be a paid commerical surrogate from the United States who has given up all rights to the child, allowing Ronaldo to bring up the boy as a single father.

My understanding is that commerical surrogacy is left to the individual states to decide in the US, in this case it is believed the woman is from San Diego in California. I am also unaware of the laws in Portugal or Spain (his current country of residence) regarding this issue.

It is good to see a man in his position choosing to have a child on his own terms, at least.

 

[Vulcan Princess]

My understanding is that commerical surrogacy is left to the individual states to decide in the US, in this case it is believed the woman is from San Diego in California. I am also unaware of the laws in Portugal or Spain (his current country of residence) regarding this issue.

You're correct about it being up to the individual states do decide. California has some of the most favorable laws for surrogacy in the US. Basically, the intent of the parties at the time of conception governs, and the contract will be enforceable.

I don't know much about international surrogacy laws, but I wrote a law review article about US surrogacy laws. Once I clean it up enough to allow it to see the light of day, I'm going to put it on SSRN and look for a publisher.

 

[Hermiod]

^As Ronaldo lived in the UK up until a year ago, if he had tried this back then it would not have been legal - at least if he tried to bring the child up here, as the paid surrogacy is illegal here. At least he would have to legally adopt the child.

 

[Miss Chicken]

^As Ronaldo lived in the UK up until a year ago, if he had tried this back then it would not have been legal - at least if he tried to bring the child up here, as the paid surrogacy is illegal here. At least he would have to legally adopt the child.

I might be wrong but I assume he is the biological father. Why would he have to legally adopt a child that a DNA test would prove he was the father of?

 

[Yoda]

^As Ronaldo lived in the UK up until a year ago, if he had tried this back then it would not have been legal - at least if he tried to bring the child up here, as the paid surrogacy is illegal here. At least he would have to legally adopt the child.

I might be wrong but I assume he is the biological father. Why would he have to legally adopt a child that a DNA test would prove he was the father of?

Don't need a DNA test for this one. Just lightly touch the baby, if he goes flying out of his crib then rolls around crying holding his knee for the next hour, then that's his boy!

 

[Marten]

The article in the paper here only said that he had gotten a child, and would have sole custody. I assumed it was some random encounter, and that he had paid her to be discreet.

 

[Trippy]

Much like the way Michael Jackson got his three kids.

 

[Hermiod]

The article in the paper here only said that he had gotten a child, and would have sole custody. I assumed it was some random encounter, and that he had paid her to be discreet.

The source is not entirely trustworthy, what with them supporting the Nazis and all (no, that's not a Godwin), but it appears she was a paid surrogate.

He claims that he will be raising the child alone. If he'd just gotten some woman pregnant that woman probably wouldn't just turn over all rights to the child, she'd want a more long term arrangement and one that allows her to see her son.

^As Ronaldo lived in the UK up until a year ago, if he had tried this back then it would not have been legal - at least if he tried to bring the child up here, as the paid surrogacy is illegal here. At least he would have to legally adopt the child.

I might be wrong but I assume he is the biological father. Why would he have to legally adopt a child that a DNA test would prove he was the father of?

To be honest, I don't know, the laws on this aren't clear.

 

[Niorah]

Funny. That's more or less the same thing that Ricky Martin did.

Short time later he came out.

Who knows, maybe we'll finally have our first internationally famous gay footballer.

 

[Hermiod]

Funny. That's more or less the same thing that Ricky Martin did.

Short time later he came out.

Who knows, maybe we'll finally have our first internationally famous gay footballer.

I'm not sure that's the case here. It's certainly interesting, though. I imagine that there would be plenty of women queuing up to have a child with him the old fashioned way - since there would be obvious financial advantages to them, so to speak. It's sad but true that there are plenty of women who go to nightclubs rich footballers are known to frequent looking for exactly that.

Instead, he appears to have decided that he wants a child but does not want to permanently entangle himself with a woman to do so.

Sorry if this all sounds rather cynical, but I don't believe what Ronaldo has done here is any worse than a woman going to a sperm bank.

 

[Niorah]

Oh, there's nothing wrong in wanting a baby. Being a man or a woman has no bearing on the choice, and there are plenty of men out there that do spectacular jobs of raising kids as single parents.

But coming from Ronaldo, it just seems so... out of place, in a way. The guy has been photographed by paparazzi with many different women of dubious reputation, living the high life on yachts and in fancy holiday spots, dancing the night away at exclusive discos and clubs... this adoption (or whatever it legally is) just came out of the blue!

 

[Deckerd]

It's not a new thing at all

 

[Hermiod]

Oh, there's nothing wrong in wanting a baby. Being a man or a woman has no bearing on the choice, and there are plenty of men out there that do spectacular jobs of raising kids as single parents.

But coming from Ronaldo, it just seems so... out of place, in a way. The guy has been photographed by paparazzi with many different women of dubious reputation, living the high life on yachts and in fancy holiday spots, dancing the night away at exclusive discos and clubs... this adoption (or whatever it legally is) just came out of the blue!

He currently has a girlfriend who wasn't involved in this decision. It appears he has decided to separate his desire to have a child from his love life.

I agree this is, in many ways, a big surprise, but in other ways it's not a surprise at all. He's in a difficult position as, sadly, it will not always be possible for him to tell which of the women in his life are only interested in him for what they can get out of him. Having a child with a woman like that would be a very bad idea indeed.

He has women in his life who he most can trust - his mother and his sisters. If he was a woman he would easily be able to have a child on his own, aside from the obvious issues involved with carrying a baby to term that all mothers go through.

If a woman gets a the point in her life where she wants to have a child but hasn't met Mr. Right, someone she feels she can bring a child up with, then there's an easy option available to her. For men who haven't met a woman they'd consider raising a child with, this option is only available if he lives in the right jurisdiction and it's several orders of magnitude more expensive.

 

[Hermiod]

It's not a new thing at all

Nobody is suggesting that paid surrogacy is "new" at all. The surprise is, as Niorah says, the man in question who has decided to have a child this way.

As already pointed out, Michael Jackson and Enrique Iglesias have also done this.

 

[Deckerd]

I'm not sure why it's unusual or a surprise then.

 

[Hermiod]

I'm not sure why it's unusual or a surprise then.

It's a surprise because it's Ronaldo. It's a surprise because a man in his position could easily find fifty women who would queue around the block for the chance to have his kid.

Instead, quite sensibly, he has chosen to limit his financial responsibility to the mother and separate fatherhood from his love life.

The old fashioned way leaves him permanently entangled with a woman he may or may not want in his life and he may not receive the full custody of the child he wants.

 

[Deckerd]

Your view of 'the old-fashioned way' is a teensy bit skewed.

 

[Hermiod]

^Only as 'skewed' as that of any woman who has ever used a sperm bank.

 

[Starkers]

Well he's named the kid after himself apparently. The baby is less than a month old and already he's left him with his mum and sister while he jets off on holiday with his girlfriend.

Just another person with too much money buying themselves a living fashion accessory.

 

[Deckerd]

Indeed. "I'm going to raise the child myself" turns out to mean "The women in my family are going to raise the child on my behalf". An exemplary role model of male parental rights.