Feminism and the Practice of Gestational Surrogacy in the Identity of the Child and the Woman

Abstract

In opposition to the spread of gestational  surrogacy as a new reproductive practice and women's labor,  this essay examines the limitations of the feminist idea of  commercialization of women's bodies. Surrogacy should be  prohibited, according to feminist academics and activists, in  order to preserve the unitarily of motherhood and women's  dignity. This theoretical viewpoint obscures women's  decision-making process to participate in free activities,  which may be harmful to the female subject's and other  people's well-being, by thinking that surrogates are victims  of imbalanced power relations. In reality, so-called liberal  feminists who support legalization and regulation of the  practice believe that women should have complete choice  over how they utilize their bodies and reproductive potential.  In this essay, I propose reclaiming the need to safeguard the  kid as the only subject with "no choice" by recognizing  surrogates' agency, positing them as subjects of social  activities, and reclaiming the need to protect the child as the  only subject with "no choice".