Inequalities in (trans)national surrogacy: A call for examining complex lived realities with an empirical lens

Abstract

Income disparity has become a mainstay of the international critique and public discourse on commercial surrogacy. Using existing empirical data, including our two respective field studies in India and the United States, we analyze surrogacy from a gender perspective and show how the visibility of gender disparities in a transnational context encourages assumptions at the local and national context. In doing so, we highlight the narrative of inequality, explore the complexity of surrogacy outside of a one-note narrative, and show how that narrative operates to overshadow the complex, lived experiences of those engaged in surrogacy.