ABSTRACT
The prospect of reducing children to consumer durables and women to baby factories surely inspires revulsion. The application of economic norms to the sphere of women’s labor violates women’s claims to respect and consideration in three ways. Commercial surrogacy attempts to transform what is specifically women’s labor—the work of bringing forth children into the world—into a commodity. The manipulation of the surrogate mother’s emotions which is inherent in the surrogate parenting contract also leaves women open to grave forms of exploitation. Many surrogate mothers see pregnancy as a way to feel “adequate,” “appreciated,” or “special.” In other words, these women feel inadequate, unappreciated, or unadmired when they are not pregnant. The dangers of exploiting women through commercial surrogacy are too great to ignore, and too deep to effectively regulate. Commercial surrogacy constitutes a degrading and harmful traffic in children, violates the dignity of women, and subjects both children and women to a serious risk of exploitation.
