Towards the Abolition of Surrogate Motherhood

In this eloquent and blistering rejection of surrogacy, a range of international activists and experts in the field outline the fundamental human rights abuses that occur when surrogacy is legalised and reject neoliberal notions that the commodification of womens bodies can ever be about the choices women make. Yoshie Yanagihara shows how feminist ideas have been twisted to extend mens freedom and their rights to access surrogacy. Catherine Lynch rails against surrogacy as the creation of babies for the express purpose of removal from their mothers, outlining the tragic outcomes for adopted people. Phyllis Chesler argues that commercial surrogacy is matricidal, slicing and dicing biological motherhood into egg donor, gestational mother and adoptive mother. Melissa Farley debunks the myth of choice in surrogacy, arguing that in a male-dominated and racist system, the exploitative sale of women in surrogacy, like in prostitution, is inherently harmful rich women do not make the choice to become surrogates or prostitutes. Other contributors to this book, which is published in conjunction with the International Coalition for the Abolition of Surrogate Motherhood, are Gena Corea, Renate Klein, Gary Powell, Rita Banerji, Marie-Josphe Devillers, Laura Isabel Gmez Garca, Alexandra Clment-Saby, Taina Bien-Aim, Silvia Guerini, Laura Nuo Gmez and Eva Maria Bachinger.