[Soup] 'Mom' Paris Hilton who skipped pregnancy and childbirth... Old issue 'surrogate motherhood'

(SBS Celebrity News Reporter Kang Kyung-yoon)

Paris Hilton (41), known as the heiress of the global hotel chain Hilton Group, recently became a mother.

Through a reality program, she revealed her conglomerate spending, such as spending money at the level of the price of a common house to buy a dog house, and Paris Hilton, who once enjoyed great popularity, became a hot topic.

Moreover, the fact that she gave birth to her child through her surrogate mother without her pregnancy and childbirth process ignited the 'surrogate mother controversy', a hot potato in Hollywood.

Paris Hilton, who has been revealing her every move through SNS, also announced the news of her birth through SNS.

Posting a picture of her holding her little baby's hand, she expressed her affection for her son, saying, "I love you beyond words."

Most states, including California, where Paris Hilton lives, allow non-profit surrogate births as well as financial compensation to her surrogates.

Although legal, surrogacy is a controversial issue for ethical reasons and other reasons.

It is known that most surrogate mothers give birth when they cannot have children due to infertility problems or when they give birth to a child in a LGBTQ family.

Hollywood stars welcome 'surrogacy'

Paris Hilton has revealed that she chose a surrogate because of infertility.

As soon as the news of her 2-year-old was delivered, the news that was reported was that 'Paris Hilton has been struggling with infertility problems'.

Earlier, Hilton's mother, Cathy Hilton, was interviewed saying, "It breaks her heart to see her daughter struggling to conceive." I said it was a choice.

Reports surfaced that celebrity Kim Kardashian, who is her best friend of Paris Hilton and who inherited her status as 'Queen of Issues', helped Paris Hilton give birth to her surrogate mother.

Kim Kardashian has also experienced childbirth through her surrogate mother.

After giving birth to her third, she got her fourth son via her surrogate in 2019.

Kim Kardashian has said publicly that she used a surrogate mother during the birth of her third child, saying she had serious physical problems.

Ricky Martin (51) from Puerto Rico, who was very popular in Korea with Latin pop in the late 1990s, became the father of twin sons, Mateo and Valentino, through a surrogate mother in August 2008.

Two years later, Ricky Martin officially came out.

Ricky Martin raised a child alone after adoption, and in January 2018, he married a same-sex woman 3 years younger than him and got two more children through a surrogate mother.

British singer and social activist Elton John (76) gave birth to two children via a surrogate mother.

Elton John, who came out in 1976, welcomed his first son in December 2010 and second son in January 2013 from the same surrogate mother.

Elton John married manager and film producer David Furnish, whom he has been dating since 1993, in December of that year, shortly after same-sex marriage was legalized in 2014, and they raised two sons together.

In addition, there are many people in the American entertainment industry who have had a second child through a surrogate mother.

Model Tyra Banks (2016), Naomi Campbell (2022), Actor Robert De Niro (2011), Lucy Liu (2015), Sarah Jessica Parker (2009), Amber Heard (2021), Cameron Diaz (2019), Celebrity Chloe Kardashian (2022) ) and others openly chose to give birth through surrogacy.

The surrogate mother case shocked the Chinese entertainment industry

In 2021, a so-called surrogate mother scandal broke out in China, and the entertainment industry was turned upside down.

In 2012, actor Zheng Shuang, who rose to stardom after appearing as the female lead in the Chinese version of 'Boys Over Flowers', had a secret marriage with actor Zhang Heng, whom he met on the same program, and had twins. The fact that they were children was known as Zhang Heng's revelation.

In addition, when her surrogate mother became pregnant, she was criticized for the fact that Zheng Shuang, who had broken up with Zhang Heng, forced her surrogate mother to have an abortion and refused to raise her children after they were born.

The children are currently being raised by Zhang Heng, and Zheng Shuang was banned from all media appearances by China's General Administration of Optics and Electronic Arts in the wake of a controversy over child abuse early last year, and was effectively forced to retire from the entertainment industry.

Zheng Shuang's surrogacy scandal has brought China's illegal surrogacy industry to the surface.

According to Chinese media, there are about 400 surrogacy agencies in China, and some are even openly operating.

Gender guaranteed 950,000 yuan (170 million won), etc. The price is set, and one company is attracting customers with the phrase 'Elite gene baby are better'.

The problem is that surrogacy outside the legal framework can fall into a blind spot for human rights.

Women who choose surrogate childbirth for the purpose of earning money wait for the childbirth period in a poor collective camp.

Even if a medical accident occurs, proper legal protection cannot be obtained, and if a child born to a surrogate mother has a disability, the birth parents abandon the child.

A child abandoned by his real parents has no choice but to live without being protected by society because his birth certificate has disappeared.

The surrogacy industry in China, where you can order a baby like a product and even return it if you don't like it, is feared to seriously undermine human dignity.

Are babies a commodity?

Even in Hollywood, there are different views on the issue of surrogacy.

For infertile families and same-sex marriage families, there are some who accept that childbirth through surrogate motherhood is a 'last option' and even a 'blessing', but criticism of disregard for life is also hot.