From Tehran to Marbella: One Woman's Fight for Motherhood

Niusha Walker never imagined her path to motherhood would lead her here, to the sun-soaked hills of Marbella, raising her two-year-old daughter London between palm trees and political firestorms.“I wish I could tell you I chose surrogacy to save my figure,” she says with a half-laugh. “I wish it was that simple, that shallow, that easy to dismiss.”Instead, she endured seven failed pregnancies, blood transfusions, and experimental treatments that altered her immune system, all before finally accepting that her body, no matter how desperately she willed it, would never carry her child.Now, as governments around the world move to criminalize the very process that gave her London, Niusha realizes her most private pain has become a global political battleground.“I never thought I’d see the day where surrogacy would be considered problematic,” she says, exhaustion softening her polished tone. “Especially now, when everyone’s so ‘woke,’ when everyone supposedly has freedom of choice. Why is surrogacy something we can’t decide on?”It’s a question that cuts to the heart of a worldwide assault on reproductive freedom, one targeting not just LGBTQ+ families, but straight women like Walker who discover that motherhood, for them, requires help.From Tehran to TorontoNiusha’s story begins where so many...