Becoming a Surrogate Online: “Message Board” Surrogacy in Thailand

Abstract

The development of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) over the past several decades has enabled infertile couples to fulfil their desire to have their children. In particular, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has made it possible to “separate the procreation of an embryo from its gestation”, thereby giving rise to various novel possibilities for infertile couples to have children. These include “the possibility of finding substitutes not just for parental genetic material but for the womb” (Strathern 2003). The practice of nourishing another’s foetus in the womb is known as surrogacy. Surrogacy has been the most contentious use of ARTs. Although surrogacy is totally prohibited in some European countries such as Germany, France, and Austria, it is permitted in a non-commercial form in other countries such as the UK. The US has long been the sole country in which commercial surrogacy has been practised openly, with some states permitting the operation of for-profit agencies that arrange surrogacy contracts. However, this situation has been rapidly changing during the past decade. With the dissemination of ARTs throughout the world, the practice of commercial surrogacy has been developing in other countries. In particular, India has been emerging as a hub of transnational surrogacy and has attracted many individuals from around the world. Whereas commercial surrogacy has not yet evolved into a huge industry as it has in India, it is nonetheless being practised in Thailand, where about 30 IVF clinics are currently operating and approximately 3,000–4,000 IVF cycles are performed annually. According to national records, 2,623 IVF F I N D I N G S