Doctoral Dissertation Research: Military Wives and the Commercialization of Surrogacy

The New School, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1332926 Iddo Tavory Elizabeth Ziff New School University In the United States, the practice of gestational surrogacy has grown exponentially. Military wives are disproportionately represented in the rising numbers of surrogate women. This dissertation will investigate the experiences of U.S. military wives who have been, or are currently gestational surrogates and will examine how these women came to be surrogates, what their experiences were and how being a "military wife" informs this choice. Analysis of this group will result in an enriched and focused account of the motivations for women to become surrogates, how the surrogate identity is constructed and performed, and the lasting effects of the practice on these women and their families. In addition, potential intersections of class, race, military life, family and national discourse will also be explored in this project. Data will be collected through individual, semi-structured interviews with military wives who have been through the surrogate experience and will be analyzed for trends specific to the sample. Findings will also be compared to other studies on surrogates to identify what similarities military wives exhibit and how, if any way, the surrogate experience is specifically structured by their role as a military spouse. Preliminary research indicates the existence of a strong elective affinity between military culture and surrogacy based on a shared imperative to serve the needs of others, which may lead to distinct differences between this group of surrogates and others. This project is intended to contribute to the existing body of work on surrogacy by producing a clearer portrait of the surrogate and demystifying an under-developed and, at times, distorted cultural view of these women. Broader Impacts There has been a significant cultural shift with regard to reproduction due to the ever-increasing options available to couples and individuals. As surrogacy has become commercialized there has been a significant increase in the numbers of babies born via this practice and it is imperative that we as researchers and a society better understand the experience of physically producing someone else?s child. This research will not only impact specific academic circles in sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, and others, but will also be informative for participants in the surrogate market, potential surrogates and intended parents who are seeking information on this role, the children who are born to surrogates and the public in general. Aside from etching a portrait of the surrogate, this work will give voice specifically to military spouses and will methodologically investigate my proposed connection between military wives and surrogacy. This work will address the altogether broader tangent of how social conceptions of kinship, motherhood and the body are affected by surrogacy.