Posted on 12/08/2017 12:46:11 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., announced Friday that he is resigning from Congress effective immediately instead of waiting until the end of January.
Franks said Thursday he would leave next month after it emerged that he discussed surrogate parenthood with two female staffers — some reports said he asked them directly to be a surrogate mother. But in a Friday a statement, Franks said his wife was admitted to a hospital Thursday night due to a recurring health issue, and that Friday would be his last day as a sitting member of Congress.
"Last night, my wife was admitted to the hospital in Washington, D.C. due to an ongoing ailment," Franks said. "After discussing options with my family, we came to the conclusion that the best thing for our family now would be for me to tender my previous resignation effective today, December 8th, 2017."
Franks said he discussed surrogacy with his staff because he and his wife have suffered from infertility, and were looking to have a third child.
"Due to my familiarity and experience with the process of surrogacy, I clearly became insensitive as to how the discussion of such an intensely personal topic might affect others," Franks said. "I have recently learned that the Ethics Committee is reviewing an inquiry regarding my discussion of surrogacy with two previous female subordinates, making each feel uncomfortable. I deeply regret that my discussion of this option and process in the workplace caused distress."
"But in the midst of this current cultural and media climate, I am deeply convinced I would be unable to complete a fair House Ethics investigation before distorted and sensationalized versions of this story would put me, my family, my staff, and my noble colleagues in the House of Representatives through hyperbolized public excoriation," Franks said, saying then that he would remain in Congress for most of the next two months. "It is with the greatest sadness, that for the sake of the causes I deeply love, I must now step back from the battle I have spent over three decades fighting."
Franks had served in Congress since 2003 and was a member of the House Freedom Caucus.
such shit for brains?
And at a much higher rate than the general public
I think in this instance it’s total BS.
(Unless there is something else out there.)
But if it is just about trying to enlist a surrogate I don’t see the foul.
Bizarre? yes. A mistake? Yes. Reason to resign? Hell no.
When one looks at what scum in Congress have gotten away for years it seems out of balance to insist on such perfection in the area of sexual harrassment yet when it comes to other matters ... not so much.
asked one staff member 4 times acc. to AP, wondering if that is normal behavior (if true)
Trents wanted to do the impregnating himself.
And not with a turkey baster, if u know what I mean.
The flap is he does not agree with Ryno.
Some from Arizona are saying there was more to this than how the congressman described it (surrogacy).
What the heck?
I get what you’re saying, and I considered the several ways this discussion could have gone (since none of us were there).
You had to wonder about scenarios, here. Did the congressman say to his staff that his wife and he could have no more children and were starting to consider a surrogate? Well then, that’s a plausible discussion that occurs quite often in this world, among friends.
Maybe Franks thought he could speak openly and personally about such a thing, but maybe the girls didn’t think they were friends, maybe they hated him and didn’t want to hear about such a thing, and didn’t want to have to fake sympathy for the plight of his wife and him.
Were these female staffers snowflakes, who never heard of such a thing? Was he joking to ask if either of the staffers would consider surrogacy? We don’t know.
However, a day or two later now, it occurs to me that Franks resigned too fast, for this incident to be all there is. IF, it were innocent he would not have resigned. It would be ridiculous to resign over the subject of surrogacy. People use surrogacy regularly in this era. Inquiring for surrogates is hardly against the law, it’s a job offer of sorts, and has nothing to do with elicit physical relations.
No, this is very strange. We just don’t know what’s up, exactly.
Franks was a good conservative and I am sorry he has to go.
The lesson in all these cases: Do not hire females to work in your office, unless they are over 65 years old. Otherwise, they will get you in trouble, especially when it’s the “in” thing to report any real or imagined harassment.
Wonder who will be stupid enough to hire these too “aides” now?
***”You actually question whether asking female employees to have your baby is sexual harassment?”***
Before or after the Vasectomy (if after, how long after)?
In a true surrogacy the child is biologically the husband and wife's. For some reason, the wife cannot carry a child to term. The doctor harvests eggs from the wife and impregnates them in the lab with hubby's sperm. The doctor then implants fertilized eggs in the surrogate. No sex is involved.
On the other hand, if he said, hey wanna have my baby? That is sexual harassment.
The former is inappropriate in the context of approaching young women who report to him and might form the basis for some kind of employment discrimination claim.
That said, the whole story sounds fishy given the age of husband and wife. Makes me think something was going on we don't yet know about.
Is asking someone to be a surrogate automatically deemed sexual harassment?
I know a woman who was a surrogate. She seemed quite happy to do it.
—
That was my reaction. It doesn’t seem that he was coming on to them, just offering them a business proposition. Why should that destroy the guy’s life? Because it made some snowflakes feel “uncomfortable”?
You are a piece of work...you know nothing about this man or what was actually said.
Because that is not the sort of stuff you should be bringing up to an underling, period.
The power relationship puts her in a bind, as well as being just generally inappropriate.
I hope you’ve got some sort of judgement on this stuff if by chance you are a manager—though somehow I’d guess you aren’t.
Me
My wife is infertile and we terribly want to be parents. Would you be interested in going with us to an agency that handles this sort of thing and help us by being a surrogate? You’ll be taken care of and everything will be paid for.
OR
Wow, you’re hot! Whew! I want to make a baby with you!
His wife's ovum, his sperm, in vitro fertilization. The embryo is then transferred into the uterous of the surrogate.
It's not some salacious hook up, although media will probably try to portray it in this way. It's not the surrogate's ovum.
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