What We Talk About When We Talk About Surrogacy. The Symbolic Representations of Surrogate Motherhood among Gays

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to analyse how surrogate motherhood is represented both in academic and scientific debate and in the everyday lives of homosexual people. The work is structured as follows. The main dilemmas facing surrogate motherhood are discussed – is it self-determination or the exploitation of women? Does the money involved denote the purchase and sale of a human being or a gift of one’s own capacity? How is motherhood defined within the surrogacy of motherhood? – and the various answers produced by the many theories and research on the subject described. Subsequently, the symbolic and cultural representations of surrogacy by the gay people interviewed are presented.