Becky Blab

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Renting wombs

October 19th, 2007 · 2 Comments

I just found out about an episode of Oprah which highlighted American couples seeking out Indian women to act as surrogate mothers, i.e. incubators.

I had no idea about this going on here. It is not mentioned in the media at all. If it were, I’m pretty sure people would react with disgust. Just one more example of the hierarchy and exploitation of developed vs. developing countries–how gains for women in developed countries in social status imply losses for less powerful women in developing countries.  I know it’s not as simple as that, but it’s pretty disturbing that this buying of bodies is going on.

Related posts:

  1. Reprinted in the HT

Tags: reproduction and repro rights

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    [...] I had written about surrogacy in India a couple months ago, and now the story has cropped up again and is posted all over Western newspapers, though none here that I’m aware of. It’s a familiar tale: rich, Western families have done all they can (and spent tons of money) on trying IVF and alternative methods, and just want a baby so bad they are willing to hire someone else to do it. And it’s a perfect arrangement, because the surrogates are only too willing to earn some relatively quick and easy cash so they can better care for their own families. Why not, if everyone’s helping everyone else? Is it actually help if it’s a paid relationship between unequals? [...]

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