Baby Assembly Line:
Commercial Surrogacy and
the Commodification of
Reproductive labor
Monica Cabrera
Main Argument
Commercial surrogacy and other reproductive
technology caters to the demands of free-market
capitalism and perpetuates broader ideologies of race,
class, nation, and gender.
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Western medical model of the body
Representations of racialized "Others"
Discipline process
Stratified reproduction
Agency
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Surrogates in India’s
reproductive industry
encounter ways to overcome
the commodification of their
reproductive capacities.
Surrogacy as a means to
assert more control over
financial, sexual, and
emotional lives.
A mother shows a photograph of her surrogate
baby with his biological father (right), next to
her own husband and child (left).
(Source: Rudrappa, S. “India's Reproductive Assembly Line.” Contexts,
11(2012): 22-27)
Concerns
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Stratified reproduction
Kinship ideology
Reproductive rights
Limited opportunities and protection for poor
and working-class women in India