shot of sass, served on (n)ice

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Celeb Juice

This week at the bar, we're all dragging in from the long holiday weekend and hope you had time to spend with your loved ones and honor those that serve and allow us to celebrate together.

For the weekly special, we are choosing bits of celebrity gossip and want to chew the fat with you a bit. I'm supposed to add my own commentary, but I'm not feeling bold enough just yet. .it's kind of a touchy subject and I thought I had some nasty thoughts, but now I'm feeling differently, so. . .what are your thoughts on:

SJP and Matthew Broderick having twins via a surrogate?

Here's one article on the subject.

7 tips left at the bar:

penelope said...

Ooo. Excellent choice.

Let me preface this by saying that I love, love SJP. I just... don't really get it. The time, the money that must have been put into this surrogacy. I'm not in her situation, what do I know, but I can't say I would have made the same choice. I *might* have taken an inability to support a pregnancy again as a sign from the universe to a) stop and/or b) explore adoption. And dare I say that hiring someone to have your babies seems, in this case, oh so Hollywood? *Cringe.* SJP, you are otherwise fabulous!

Niki said...

Presumably MB's sperm, right, sooo...whose eggs??

Also, I genuinely didn't really think people used surrogates anymore. I thought we learned that from all the drama in the late 80s/early 90s made-for-TV movies. (I say this without any judgment or rudeness intended. Honestly thought it was a 90s thing we no longer did due to myriad of complications arising from it.)

Ruby said...

Nik, I think they were her eggs... at least nothing in the story implies that they weren't.

I don't really see the issue here, girls? So some people who couldn't have kids on their own used a surrogate - it happens every day, yes? Is it because it's SJP and MB?

No matter what, there are going to be two kids with parents who really, really wanted them and that's fab!

Niki said...

CAVEAT - I have no children and have never been pregnant, so my knowledge on reproduction is obviously limited to the classroom...well, uh, sort of :)

I don't think the article implies egg ownership either way - they just sort of say "surrogate" and leave it alone without getting into specifics. (And to be fair, that's EXACTLY as it should be; SJP and MB don't owe us any explanation. However, our job in the comments for this week is to be nosy and gossipy, and so I think whose eggs is a legit question for that kind of endeavor.) My doubts arose from completely unfounded assumptions about female reproduction, as well as numerous made-for-tv movies I watched in middle school regarding surrogates (alluded to in my first comment).

After some quick Google searches, I found that my instincts were partially right. The age of the egg is more important than the age of the uterus, and according to one website I found, 42-45 is the general cutoff for for in vitro. SJP is 44. So presumably if SJP had viable eggs she would carry them, perhaps with some in vitro assistance. The fact that she isn't carrying them leads me to suspect some issues with her rather than him...which leads me to wonder if perhaps they are using donor eggs.

Also, the wise sage Wikipedia tells me that surrogate pregnancy with the surrogate as biological mother is the "more traditional" form and pure "gestational" surrogacy (where surrogate serves only as "rental" womb) is even illegal in some countries (and US states?).

So yeah, "who is the bio-mom?" is kind of up for grabs even though Billy Bush didn't ask her about it (dare I say it was stipulated prior to the interview that he would not?).

Ruby said...

You are such a speed Googler, Nik!

I agree with your comment, with one exception: My impression was that most surrogacy situations were the 'rental' type, not the other way around. It's hard enough for me to imagine donating eggs to the unknown of a bank, not to mention knowing who the father is, carrying the child and then handing it over?! I am not mentally capable of handling that, and neither would the lawyers that would be required for such a scenario! Thus, I am lead to think that perhaps the eggs are not the problem, rather some other womanly issue.

(Holy shit, we are seriously discussing SJP's reproductive bits! I feel so ashamed.)

I have a feeling that the classroom may, in fact, be the very last place that your knowledge of reproduction comes from... rather: the kitchen table, the beach, the backseat, etc.? ;)

Andria said...

This is getting juicy! Because not all of us are as good of a person as that Ruby seems to be, dismissing it as a complete non-issue. Yes, perhaps it should be a more general discussion on surrogacy and opinions surrounding it, but we were supposed to pick a celebrity topic. The initial way it was presented to me was on some radio blurb that was clearly biased and presenting it as a Hollywood starlet (SJP) not wanting to gain the weight or go through the pregnancy personally and I just took it and ran with those thoughts thinking if she couldn't take it, then she shouldn't do it. Plus, it's not like she can't afford the personal trainer and personal chef and nanny to help her bounce right back - even though it will take more effort with #2 and being older, etc. Then, I stepped back and realized, duh, how old is Wilkie (and that could be another whole topic in itself!) and how old is she, and they've probably been trying for a while and this wasn't the "simple" (cop-out)solution I was originally thinking. They've probably had their own struggles to get to this point. And even if they haven't, if they've worked it out with someone and are all comfortable, who am I to judge?

Bj in Dallas said...

I love the spirited banter between you girls about SJP's parts......could be called
"Does She or Doesn't She? Only Her Uterus Knows Fo Sho!"

I guess I'm too "I don't give a shit what those people do, as long as they're not ass holes" to the whole Hollywood thing.

I will say this, Anne Curry interviewed Brad Pitt in Cannes last week and he looked great except for the oversized Elvis sunglasses and a friggin scarf blowing in the wind. I kept wondering if he asked AJ if he looked ok before he left, because I would have said, no you look like a young gay Elvis. Go back to your room and change.

have a wonderful day out there girls.