Surrogacy=Prostitution????

Ok, so I am not a legal expert by any means, nor do I pretend to understand politics. So consider me shocked when I found out that surrogacy for compensation is illegal in several states and highly restricted in others. Yep. I've done a little research on the subject and from what I gather, surrogacy has been likened to prostitution if a woman receives money for the use of her body. Wow, I had no idea I was such a trollop.
My new friend Kelsey (whom I met at a Birth Matters event and met the goddess of birth herself, Ina May Gaskins) is very knowledgeable about this subject, as she has written a massive paper on it in her field of study. She is the one who informed me that my own state has highly restricted this practice. Which would explain why the company I am working with is based out  of another state. Obviously there are people out there who agree that compensation for surrogacy should be illegal, perhaps even some of you reading this blog. I am assuming (hoping) there are legal reasons OTHER than the hooker comparison that these laws exist. And as I stated, I am by no means a legal expert. But in my humble opinion, let me explain why I believe surrogacy is NOT the same thing as prostitution.

1. Prostitutes get paid to provide someone instant gratification of a physical desire. Surrogates get paid to provide someone with a child that they have been, in most cases, trying to have on their own for years. Call me crazy, but I find it difficult to equate getting your rocks off to creating a life, even though the first can result in the second :)
2. Prostitutes do no go through the extensive screening, interviews, psychological/medical testing, paperwork, education that surrogates do. If they do, that is a damn selective pimp.
3. While surrogacy can be entered into for some women by the "lure" of compensation, it involves and requires MUCH more than most people can imagine. Medical procedures just to get pregnant, traveling, opening up your entire personal history to be analyzed, BEING PREGNANT FOR 9 MONTHS, all the issues associated with pregnancy, labor and delivery, handing over the child you've carried...these things are all sacrifices. Entered into willingly, yes. Deserving of compensation, yes.
4. Just because genitals are involved in both "services", it does not mean they are the same thing.

So hopefully this doesn't cause too much controversy, or piss of too many people who think that I am wrong on any of these 4 points. If it does, that won't change my opinion. I am honored to be able to help an amazing couple realize their dream of having a child, and if that makes me a prostitute, then bring on the hooker heels and fishnets.