Reinforcing Gender Norms: Commercial and Altruistic Surrogacy

Abstract

Surrogate motherhood agreements have stimulated widespread public, governmental and academic debate. Much ot the discussion focuses on commercial contracts which are generally condemned, whereas more support exists for altruistic agreements. The paper argues that the distinction between commercial and altruistic surrogacy is neither self-evident nor natural. By examining two recent surrogacy cases it concludes that the distinction is based on gender norms specifyng that love and affection not self-intercstedness or financial gain should underlie women's motivations to have children.