ABSTRACT

A surrogate intentionally conceives a child for the purpose of surrendering that child to its biological father and his wife; she thus creates a "wanted child," who is, however, wanted by someone other than herself. The social mother is similar to an adoptive mother in that her relationship to the child exists not in nature, but in law alone. Reproduction is characterized by both surrogates and adoptive mothers as "women's business." An additional reason that both the surrogate and the adoptive mother focus on reproduction as the domain of women is that their relationship serves to deemphasize the technological or impersonal elements of surrogacy while highlighting the human element. Surrogate motherhood calls for a reconsideration of the inviolability of the chain of events between marriage, procreation, and motherhood. Couples downplay the significance of the father's biological link to the child.