How Does 'The Surrogate Mother' Novel End?

The ending of the novel was quite unexpected as it did not go with the conventional closing of such a novel. Instead of providing a closure to the story of the protagonist, the author brings to the notice of the reader the many lingering problems which arise after the birth of the baby. For instance, the surrogate mother suffers from postpartum depression even though she does not keep the baby with her while the wealthy biological parents of the baby suffer from infertility again.

Finally, the novel jumps forward to explore the ripple effects of all of this. The surrogate from the first part of the novel grows up to become an activist trying to reform the way that surrogacy is practiced; the biological dad from the first part of the novel leaves his wife and children for another woman from a more traditional family background; and the child from the first part of the novel grows up wondering about her other mother.

What I remember most is the hospital ID bracelet from the birth of the child appearing from time to time – first in the jewelry box of the surrogate mother, then in the keepsake box of the child, and finally between the pages of a legislative bill as a bookmark of the activist. The simple object stayed with me.

The end of The Surrogate Mother was so surprising. After all of the trouble that the biological parents went through to get their child, they finally got to take her home. The way that the surrogate looked at the baby one last time before handing her over to her parents was heart breaking. The author even described the surrogate’s maternity clothes still being in the house. It was really sad. The end was also really good because in the epilogue it was 5 years after the baby was born and the surrogate had gone to the birthday party of the child. She was there as the ‘aunt’. The child had called her mommy by accident and the room had fallen silent. The way that the author portrayed the situation was really realistic. It showed how difficult it was for the surrogate to give up the baby and how the bonds between her and the baby would never be fully broken.

In the climax of ‘the surrogate mother’, the traditional image of motherhood is exposed and destroyed in a dramatic courtroom confrontation. On behalf of the surrogate mother, her lawyer states that a woman who has carried a child for nine months develops just as deep a psychological bond with that baby as the biological mother, referring to recent studies between fetal-maternal brainwaves. Against this, the genetic parents to the baby argue that as they are the contractual parents to the child, they have the right to the baby on the basis of DNA evidence.

Judge Crawford does the unthinkable in handing joint custody to the three mothers in what is believed to be the very first surrogacy case to have ever gone to trial. In the subsequent chapters the three women struggle to make the unusual family work. The author has a wonderful way of contrasting societal attitudes towards alternative families and the reality of this family. The surrogate mother attends her child’s school plays whilst the genetic mother of the child teaches her a love of piano and is enthusiastic and admirable in both her roles.

In the final scene of the novel a seven-year-old girl draws a family portrait with three mothers in it. She then tells her teacher that all of her ‘mommies’ help her to grow. The reality of this non-conventional family outlbrace the fantasies of the courtroom.