Social Structures and Surrogate Pregnancies
Much of the discussion in the past weeks has been in relation to the changes in social structures around the world. One very interesting article from the E&Z reader was that which discussed the “globalization” of childbirth-- specifically of surrogate pregnancies-- which has definitely been an example of the changes in the “traditional first-world family”, as well as many of the changes in the structure of labor in the developing world. Prior to reading the article, my own impression of surrogate pregnancies was from the movie “Baby Mama”, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, which comedically tells the story of two American women who, together, experience the process of a surrogate pregnancy. Though, to contrast “Baby Mama”, the article “Childbirth at a Global Crossroads”, by Arlie Russell Hochschild, tells, quite seriously, the reality of surrogate pregnancies and their common practice in developing countries.
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Hochschild paints a picture of the economic support that can be provided to a family in the developing world if the wife is to carry through a surrogate pregnancy for couples that are often from developed countries. A few of the interviews included in the article seem to imply that many women feel empowered by their ability to provide for their families by carrying through with a surrogacy. As one surrogate mother claims “‘ ...my mother-in-law lives separately from us, and at first I hid it from her… but when she found out, she said she felt blessed to have a daughter-in-law like me because I’ve given more money to the family than her son could’” (E&Z, 212). This quote relates not only to the feminization of labor and the shift in the “traditional” family structure in which the male provides for the family, but it also seems to express some sentiment of the shame associated with the loss of the traditional views of masculinity.
Although the article touches on some of these aspects of changes in the social structures of both family and gender, Hochschild also mentions, “Nowadays, a wealthy person can purchase it all-- the egg, the sperm, and time in the womb” (E&Z, 211). When I first read this quote, it seemed to me to almost be a reinforcement of the idea of the “westernization” of globalization. It seems to reinforce the narrative of labor-- and people-- in the developing world being purchased and used by those from developed countries. Additionally, through data provided by the article, BBC, and a surrogacy website, it appears that an American surrogate mother would receive about 30%-50% of the total cost of the surrogacy paid by the intended parents, whereas a surrogate mother in India would receive around 11% of the total cost of the surrogacy*. Although surrogate pregnancies do provide financial support for families in the developing world, the difference in the percent of the money received by the mother seems to represent the ability of people in developed countries, as well as the agencies that the surrogate mothers use, to use foreign labor as a means of maximizing their own benefits.
If I could take time to extensively investigate the market of surrogate pregnancies, I would be interested to study how it affects the family dynamics of the families whose mothers give birth to the child. Although it seems like most of the families benefit from the economic benefits of the surrogacy, it would be interesting to see how deeply it affects the family both psychologically and structurally. If women are giving birth to other couples’ children, they are not having their own children to expand their family. Additionally, another aspect that would be interesting to study is whether or not there will be future psychological effects of the surrogate babies. The concept of the globalization of surrogate pregnancies around the world is an interesting one that seems relatively new in relation to the traditional structure of the family that often had strict gender and parenting roles. As the structures of families continue to change and develop, there is no way to tell how large this industry may become-- or even what it will become.
*https://www.conceiveabilities.com/surrogates/surrogate-mother-pay
In addition to surrogates becoming more common, it is now becoming common for women in India to be surrogates for American women. These Indian women move to villages set up specifically for this purpose, and they need to do this to make money for their families, whom they do not get to live with during this time. The women are taught to essentially think of their womb as an empty room to rent to the fetus, and that the women should not grow emotional attachment with the child they give birth to. These women are carrying babies, and also going through counseling that teaches them to dissociate the child from a part of their baby. This is a way that surrogacy affects families in India. (This information comes from an article I read for an anthropology course I took but cannot find it).
ReplyDeleteI am somewhat familiar with this subject, but I appreciated the connections you made to our class and your expansion of it. I know that surrogacy is kind of a hot topic right now and it is so interesting to see it also being globalized. I think it is amazing and crazy that not only can we purchase products designed in our country and have it made across the world, but now we can hire women on the other side of the globe to carry our children (at the fraction of the cost). The amazing thing about this is that it actually works. The crazy thing about this is that we are creating a specific industry around exploiting able child bearers...That statistic about how surrogate mothers in India would receive around 11% of the total cost of the surrogacy, while American surrogates would receive about 30%-50% of the total cost, is ridiculous but does not surprise me at all. I would love to learn more about this subject.
ReplyDeleteThank you for including statistics on the % of the total cost of the surrogacy, this emphasized your points nicely. This made we look around for more sources/ statistics. I came across a 2013 Washington Post article that I highly recommend, it is on the increase of surrogate births in India for the West (this relates to Brie's comment above).
ReplyDeleteWP Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-india-a-rise-in-surrogate-births-for-west/2013/07/26/920cb5f8-efde-11e2-8c36-0e868255a989_story.html?utm_term=.f03118918e36