Daily Wire personality Michael Knowles joined the Clemson Young Americans for Freedom chapter to give a speech regarding the moral concerns and consequences of same-sex parents to a crowd of 250 people on Wednesday.

Knowles’ on-campus speech was centered around the topic of the “commoditization of children” through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy. He specifically addressed why he believes male homosexual couples who obtain a baby this way are providing a disservice to a child.

“What I would like to discuss tonight… is the fact that kids are not commodities to be bought and sold. People are not property; children have rights,” Knowles said. “The reason this issue has come up recently is that same-sex couples have begun to purchase children through surrogacy and in vitro fertilization.”

“​​The case of homosexual men purchasing children through surrogacy is particularly and most obviously egregious because it involves creating babies with the express intent of denying them their mothers,” Knowles added. “The bond between babies and their mothers is the most intimate bond that human beings will ever experience.”

Knowles said that he does not blame homosexuals for their desire to have a child via IVF or surrogacy. Instead, he challenged modern American culture, arguing that the best form of parenting is done the “old-fashioned way” between a man and woman because of the different aspects both parents contribute to a family.

“These men have been told by the entire culture for about 60 years now that men and women really aren’t different,” Knowles said. “And if men and women really aren’t different, then moms and dads really aren’t different. And if moms and dads really aren’t different, then why would anyone need or even want to have both of them?”

Knowles also placed blame on the capitalist system for allowing the “commodification of children.”

“The culprit is capitalism unconstrained by morality, and more precisely, still, the culprit is the commodification of children of people broadly and children in particular,” he said. “People are not your products. Products don’t have rights; people do, babies included.”

As Knowles lamented, this topic’s support crosses the party line, with some Democrats and Republicans advocating for IVF and surrogacy.

Beginning in the 1980s, IVF has become popular and stretched into the modern day.

Surrogacy, on the other hand, has grown in popularity amongst gay men seeking to start a family, an idea that Knowles believes to be “unnatural” and “selfish.”

“They put their own desires, their natural desire for children, along with their disordered desire to exclude women from that process, ahead of the rights and interests of their respective children,” Knowles said. “But I suspect that most of them don’t know that in their defense.”

Knowles continued to explain that his fundamental problem with IVF and surrogacy was that it “establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person.”

“They (IVF and surrogacy) entrust the life and identity of the babies into the power of doctors and biologists,” he said.

Knowles went on to highlight multiple incidents that have resulted as a consequence of IVF and surrogacy.

He spoke of an incident in California involving two couples who gave birth to each others’ babies after an accidental mix-up at a fertility clinic.

In another mix-up earlier this year, a North Texas couple sued a Fort Worth fertility clinic for using the wrong sperm to conceive their children through IVF.

Although there was no protest against the event, which Knowles said was because it was “a little chilly outside,” Clemson University Police Department had a strong presence around and within the event to ensure attendees’ safety.

“It was an honor to host Mr. Knowles, and we look forward to continuing to bring conservative voices to campus,” Taylor Adams, YAF president, told The Tiger after the event.