The Mexican Case: The Differences between Autonomy and Radical Feminism

Abstract

AbstractSurrogacy has developed in Mexico, especially in the State of Tabasco, mainly as a form of reproductive labour for women with economic needs. In the last 7 years, the national debate and international attention towards surrogacy in Mexico have intensified, the discourse on the need to regulate surrogacy at a Federal level has acquired increasing visibility, sustained by a discourse of modernization. Feminist engagement on the topic has also grown in recent years: the most expert feminist NGOs is GIRE, which in the frames of woman’s autonomy and reproductive rights advocates for the regulation of the market to protect the rights of surrogates, parents and children; other feminists groups call for the total prohibition of surrogacy, regarded as a form of exploitation of vulnerable women and commodification of children. The polarization of perspectives can be read as a competition between two dominant feminist streams: neoliberal and radical. While both fronts are concerned that widespread illegality could affect the surrogacy market and put participants at risk of violations, reformists believe that this risk can be minimized through adequate regulation and that prohibition would just contribute to rendering surrogacy a profitable illegal activity.