Surrogacy Culture in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Through a phenomenological approach and using the theory of functionalism, the authors of the present study have explored the lived experience of women involved in the phenomenon of surrogacy. Participants in this study were selected through visits to infertility treatment centers. Due to the high infertility rate in Iran, the extreme wealth inequality and the dominance of the male sexual order, it seems likely that we will see the rapid growth of this new method of pregnancy in Iran. The results of the study suggest that although women come to have children through this method, they do not lose the remorse of infertility. Also, women who come to have children through surrogate mothers feel that their experience of being a mother is not complete and experience a type of defective motherhood. Therefore, they take some measures to engage in nursing the surrogate mothers in order to contribute to the process of pregnancy and motherhood. In this study, we have shown how this method of having children has led to the commodification of childbearing and motherhood processes.

Keywords

• motherhood
• commodification
• suffering
• sexual order
• infertility