19 January,2011 07:35 AM IST | | Agencies
Country musician Keith Urban and his wife, actress Nicole Kidman, have ignited debate about surrogacy, specifically their use of the term "gestational carrier". The couple's announcement of the birth in Nashville, of their second daughter, prompted widespread reaction.
And speculation over whether Urban and Kidman paid the surrogate to carry the child had a serious note in Australia, where it is illegal to do so over and above reasonable costs of the pregnancy unlike the situation in the United States. Urban is Australian, while Kidman has dual Australian-American citizenship.
A press release issued by the couple on the birth of Faith Margaret to a surrogate mother on December 28 read, "No words can adequately convey the incredible gratitude that we feel for everyone who was so supportive throughout this process, in particular our gestational carrier."
