Babies for Sale?: Transnational Surrogacy, Human Rights and the Politics of Reproduction

Transnational surrogacy parenthood is on the rise. For example, in the United States, the practice has been legalized in several states, while in India state sponsored “medical tourism” has established nearly three thousand surrogacy clinics. Globalization, new reproductive technologies, and rising infertility rates are combining to produce a quiet revolution in social ethics and the nature of parenting. Whereas much of the current scholarship has confined itself to the legal implications of this phenomenon and has largely focused on only a few countries, this groundbreaking anthology offers a much wider perspective.

Babies for Sale features contributions by activists and scholars from a range of countries and disciplines in order to offer the first genuinely international study of transnational surrogacy. Rooted in feminist perspectives, many of the essays give voice to those most affected by the global surrogacy chain, namely the surrogate mothers, donors, prospective parents, and the children themselves. Through case studies ranging from Israel to Mexico, the book outlines the forces that are driving the growth of transnational surrogacy, as well as its implications for feminism, human rights, motherhood, and masculinity.