Reflecting on Dobbs v Jackson: Implications on Gestational Surrogacy Practices in the U.S.
Saturday, October 14, 2023
10:30 AM – 11:45 AM ET
Location: Dover C (Third Floor)
Gestational surrogacy has expanded opportunities for historically marginalized groups, including LGBTQIA+ persons, single self-identifying men and women, and individuals with physical or psychological illness or trauma, to have children. In turn, surrogacy may be perceived as an act of reproductive freedom that expands our procreative options; opponents argue that surrogacy may be exploitative and coercive. The Supreme Court’s Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision has triggered laws restricting abortion care nationwide, introducing civil and criminal penalties for women, pregnant people, and their physicians. Although the impending consequences of reproductive care for women and pregnant people have been addressed in advocacy and academic spaces, there is an omission of implications on gestational surrogacy practices. Will limits on reproductive care impact gestational surrogacy and consequently further discriminate against LGBTQIA+ families and persons experiencing infertility? Our presentation will center these debates within the current political climate and deliberate on the complexity of bodily autonomy within third-party reproduction. We will consider the perspectives of surrogates, many of whom often have little understanding of the medical interventions necessary in gestational pregnancies, and the perspectives of intended parents, who may respect surrogates but ultimately wish for a healthy pregnancy and birth. We will conclude by asking whether it is ethically justifiable for international intended parents to seek surrogacy in the U.S. and whether abortion restrictive states ought to prohibit surrogacy altogether. We will end with considerations of whether our political climate may ultimately encourage cross-border surrogacy in the global south.
Priyanjali Chakraborty – School of Social Work – University of Texas at Arlington