India's Gestational Surrogacy Market: An Exploitation of Poor, Uneducated Women

The commodification of women is most often associated with the notorious practices of sex trafficking and prostitution. However, in this article, the author examines this historic and global problem through a different lens: the use of women in India as gestational surrogates. The article explains how wealthy Americans have more access to India's gestational surrogacy market than ever before, and how the advent of new technology- such as in vitro fertilization- has also removed practical barriers. Many poor women in India have little opportunity for education or career advancement, and thus become surrogates as a method of survival.

The author illustrates how this transactional exchange disregards the health and autonomy of surrogate women.