Gift Narratives of US Surrogates

Abstract

In this paper, I present partial results of two researches conducted on US surrogacy within two different fertility clinics of Southern California (2014-2016; 2017-2020). This paper analyzes the experiences of 50 US surrogates who had a baby (or twins) for international intended parent(s) in where the communication between parties was poor or almost absent and in where the rhetoric of the gift was carried out most by clinics and agencies that arranged the surrogacy journeys observed rather than the interviewees. I will show how the transformations undergone by surrogacy in the United States have changed some axes causing a change in the relationships between international parents and surrogates, and on the language used to refer to this practice as a gift.