Promoting Social Visibility for Single-Father Families Created by Surrogacy

Abstract

The phenomenon of single-father families created by surrogacy is a social event that lacks visibility. The dominant thinking regarding parenting is framed by heteronormativity, which establishes couplehood of different sexes as the acceptable and biologically grounded way to reproduce and raise children, leading to the lack of visibility of single men who want to be or are already fathers. For these men, there are two main possible paths: adoption or surrogacy. In this occasional essay, we will discuss the importance of creating social visibility for single men who want to become or are already fathers through surrogacy to provide enlightening information about the phenomenon, creating positive models for single gay or straight men who choose this method to fulfill their parenting ambitions. We will begin by establishing some introductory social considerations, followed by some explanations for why single men wish to pursue surrogacy and their experiences. We then provide research results from the field and respective conclusions. We argue that creating social visibility for single parents through surrogacy is a form of social change that could facilitate the deconstruction of traditionalist views of the concept of family.