Not transaction but service? Interrogating the multiple surrogacy narratives in India

Abstract

The asymmetrical commercial surrogacy industry in India has been subject to media scrutiny and scholarly debate focusing on biomedical, legal, ethical and feminist concerns. Since 2016, this discourse has taken a contested turn, as the new Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill bans commercial surrogacy and allows only altruistic surrogacy for heteronormative, married, clinically-infertile Indian couples/women. This Bill has been passed by Parliament’s lower house, but is still being debated in the upper house. One recurrent trope underpinning the surrogacy rhetoric is the Hindu figuration of the sacrificing mother, as iconified in the mythical Yashoda. Altruistic surrogacy is usually framed as an ethical extension of selfless motherhood; and commercial surrogacy stakeholders also use the same trope to validate surrogacy. This article critiques how Hindu constructs of motherhood impact the rhetoric and politics of surrogacy in India. Using a three-part analysis, the author discusses a Hindu surrogacy myth, investigates government and media texts on the new Bill, and explores select testimonials of surrogates (sourced through secondary research). The research question in the article is: how are the rights of surrogates being addressed (or diminished) through the use of Hindu motherhood tropes and the framing of surrogacy as gift-giving or unpaid service rather than transaction?