Surrogacy as Business

Transition, Current Situation and Cultural Structure to Support the Contract

Abstract

　Surrogacy was originally invented in the United States as a commercial agreement in 1976. After suffering vocal, negative public opinions, the contract was positioned as less commercial, and instead, as being more altruistic. This business marketing term was diminished by the influences of Baby M case; though, it percolated in the 1990’s with the use of in vitro fertilization. Since the 2000’s, with diffusion of reproductive outsourcing, surrogacy has grown into a worldwide, mainstream market.

　Surrogacy has been criticized as baby selling and making women into baby factories. The latter is circumvented by a rhetoric to regard women’s pregnancy and labor as a service. However, the actual contracts show surrogacy commodifies women’s entire vital function, instead of using only a part of her body.

　The above logic to support surrogacy is constructed in a societal circumstance where“ biocapital”functions with articulations of culture by life scientific knowledges. Under this cultural structure, the surrogacy business market has been expanding in today’s society by evoking the “potential” of people’s reproduction.