Surrogacy: time we recognized it as a job?

ABSTRACT

Though commercial surrogates are paid for providing a service, there is systemic reluctance to characterize these arrangements as ‘work’. No jurisdiction in the world currently uses a labour law model to regulate this practice. Perhaps more significantly, research has found that industry narratives in popular commercial destinations including Georgia, California, and (formerly) India are constructed around expectations of altruism, which distance surrogates from their identity as workers even when paid. This contribution explores one aspect of this: the practical concern that normalizing contract pregnancy will cause it to become a mainstream solution to unemployment. It is argued that this assumption is a further manifestation of the ‘devaluation thesis’ already experienced by reproductive labourers. Once unpicked, it becomes apparent that surrogacy is not a role that can be successfully performed by anyone with a uterus. With proper screening, this concern could be managed.

KEYWORDS:

• Surrogacy
• reproductive labour
• labour law
• devaluation thesis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author’s PhD is supported by the UK Government.

Notes on contributors

Sylvie Armstrong

Sylvie Armstrong is a PhD Candidate at the European University Institute. Her research explores the relationship between reproduction and labour law, with particular focus on the commercial surrogacy industry. She tweets as @s_armstrong97.