Reproducing Dystopia: The Politics of Transnational Surrogacy in India, 2002–2015

Abstract

In the decade following legalization of commercial surrogacy in 2002, India became the largest provider of surrogacy services. Then, in December 2015 commercial surrogacy was banned. In this article I show that commercial surrogacy was no panacea for working-class women, but the ban can potentially be far worse because the Indian state now allows only altruistic surrogacy between citizen couples and their women kinfolk who will provide gestation services for no monetary compensation. By positing altruistic surrogacy as a superior alternative, the Indian state has effectively deregulated surrogacy, potentially allowing deeper exploitation of women. I conclude that if the state wants to halt exploitation of working-class women, which is the expressed reason for banning commercial surrogacy, then policies need to be directed at strengthening labor laws to protect women as productive individuals, rather than wives or mothers.