GENDER NEUTRAL PARENTING - Parenting beyond Stereotypes - Infano Women's Health | Lifestyle

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While there are no rules or guidelines for perfect parenting, everyone’s approach towards their kids is unique.

If you choose to go ahead with gender-neutral parenting, you need to understand what it is and what are the pros and cons before adopting such a parenting style.

What is Gender Neutral Parenting?

Gender-neutral parenting is the way of letting your child explore their gender without restriction from society or with the gender they were born.

In simple words, Gender-neutral Parenting is giving freedom to children to make their own choices. It’s about encouraging a child to discover their own identity by eliminating gender stereotypes.

As most of them mistake gender-neutral parenting with gender-neutral children, they are not the same. A gender-neutral approach is a parent’s valiant effort not to classify a child solely based on his/her biological sex at birth.

Why is Gender-Neutral Parenting Important?

Being born with male or female body parts does not predict one’s qualities, abilities, or preferences.

Even if you are the one who is against gender discrimination and who wants to raise your kids without gender bias, you might be unknowingly differentiating them based on their gender.

For instance, how do you feel if someone gifts a Disney princess on your son’s birthday?

What type and color of dress would you prefer to buy for your daughter on her birthday? Most probably, your choice would be a pink-colored skirt or a gown with flowers or butterflies. And if it’s a boy, you would buy a shirt and jeans or a kurta.

“We Are What We Teach – We Teach What We Are”

We live in a society where we believe that gender norms are biologically based and taught about the role of gender and their responsibilities. We live in a system where everything is gender-stereotyped. For example, while toys like dolls, princess costumes, and kitchen sets emphasize domestic care and beauty, whereas cars, action figures, and building sets emphasize spatial reasoning and aggression.

We teach our children what we are taught from our parents and elders and think that they are essential for our child’s wellbeing and happiness. So, we make our kids learn how a boy is supposed to look like and how a girl should behave.

Though the concept of gender-neutral parenting is in the nascent stage, given the prevalence of gender bias in our society, raising a child in a gender-neutral manner is much needed today.

Here are some Pros and Cons of Gender-Neutral Parenting.

Pros of Gender-Neutral Parenting

The liberty of expression and freedom of choice make your kids more creative and enhances your kid’s self-esteem and courage.
It enhances the ability of your kids to develop their interests and goals.
Erasing gender labels can help your kids discover who they are and who they want to be.
Your kid will feel free to express themselves.
It allows your child to respect people equally without any gender discrimination.
Your kids grow up with the ability to never have any gender bias or stereotype.
Gender-neutral kids are likely to make efforts to challenge and achieve gender equality both in school and in society.
Most importantly, your kid would love to be loved unconditionally and trusts you more.

Cons of Gender-Neutral Parenting

Gender stereotyping, being one of the most prevalent issues today, makes it challenging for parents to confront any gender norms and stereotypes.
Not everyone is in favor of Gender-neutral parenting. Your child may feel pressured as the community will try to push them back into their gender stereotype.
Even minute differences in caregiving can have a significant impact on them.
Children who don’t know about gender until they meet with other kids or attend school may feel confused about their gender identity that affects personal growth and development.

Welcome to the World of Gender-neutral Parenting!

Create the right environment for your kids from an early age as they learn more from our actions than words. Block the gender bias and allow your kids to explore and determine where they fall in their own time.

Let your kids live in a world where they are free to live without any gender bias and grow up with their own emotions and interests.

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Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas recently announced on their Instagram that they had welcomed their first baby via surrogacy and this sparked a lot of hullabaloo on social media about exploitation and reproductive rights. This article will help you understand all you wanted to know about surrogacy.

What is the surrogacy process?

The embryo is created by combining the egg of the intended mother or egg donor with sperm from the intended father or sperm donor. This can be done through in vitro fertilization (IVF) or artificial insemination.

If the intended parents use their own egg and sperm, this is known as autologous surrogacy. With this method, no embryo transfer procedure is used. If they don’t supply their own eggs and sperm, they use the services of an egg donor and a sperm donor who will both provide these gametes to create an embryo that will be transferred to the uterus of the surrogate mother. This method is called allogenic surrogacy therapy.

The fertilized egg is then placed in the uterus of the surrogate mother, who will carry the pregnancy.

Who is a surrogate?

A surrogate mother is a woman who carries and delivers a baby to another person or couple. She has no genetic relationship to the child and carries it for someone else to give birth to. Surrogate mothers may receive compensation and may opt to give up all parental rights once their service is complete.

One of the most expensive things you’ll have to do for your family finds a gestational carrier. There is plenty of caring and trustworthy agencies that will send out a request for potential surrogates based on what kind of thing you’re looking for. Once you’ve found someone, hiring them is as easy as filling out paperwork, providing medical/genetic information, and agreeing to set up a financial agreement.

In some cases, the surrogate mother can also be a family member or a close friend who may agree to this process for no financial gain. Surrogacy is not regulated by any government agency.

Surrogacy, a boon

Surrogacy is a boon to women who cannot conceive. It provides an opportunity for infertile couples to have a baby. It can also be a boon for single mothers or gay couples who want to have a child without all the hassles of surrogacy.

It can be beneficial for both parties as surrogates are compensated for their time and effort, and the commissioning mother is able to spend time with her family rather than being pregnant.

How You Can Use Surrogacy For Treatment

Many fertility packages with surrogates include all the necessary screenings and monitoring for both, as well as an extra FET (frozen embryo transfer) if the initial transfer was unsuccessful. They do not include services of agencies who locate surrogates, legal services, obstetrical services, or compensation or benefits to these gestational carriers.

The legality of Surrogacy in India

The Indian Parliament recently passed two acts around Indian women’s reproductive rights and health– the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill. This aims to regulate and supervise assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics and surrogacy and curb unethical practices related to issues like sex selection and exploitation of surrogate mothers by imposing both monetary penalties and jail terms for violations.

Transnational surrogacy was banned in India in 2015, but Assisted Reproductive Techniques and domestic commercial surrogacy continue through agents and private clinics.

The new laws in the bill state that couples seeking surrogacy should be married for at least five years. The couple has to be heterosexual and includes a man between the ages of 26 to 55 years and a woman of 25 to 50 years of age. Both have to be Indians and should have no biological, adopted, or surrogate children (unless the child is mentally or physically challenged or has a life-threatening disorder).

The criteria for anyone opting to be a surrogate mother states that:

The woman in question must be married (at least once in her life) and should have her own child.
She should be between 25 to 35 years of age and a close relative of the couple opting for surrogacy.
Any woman agreeing to be a surrogate cannot be a surrogate more than once in her life and at the time she should be certified for medical and psychological fitness. (Source)

However, these laws exclude same-sex couples or those who are not legally married and hence are not comprehensive enough. It also does not help couples who want to start a family earlier. It also insists on proof of one partner being infertile in order to initiate the surrogacy process.

Hence the laws in India are not inclusive enough.

Also read How to talk about male infertility with your partner