Being questioned as parents: An interview study with Swedish commissioning parents using transnational surrogacy

Arvidsson, Anna; Johnsdotter, Sarah; Emmelin, Maria; Essén, Birgitta

doi:10.1016/j.rbms.2018.08.001

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It is the social work profession that bears the brunt of ill-designed policies that they have to implement. As we saw with Arvidsson et al (2018a, b) as well as our own study, it is individual social workers who are the face of a system that seems to be wilfully denying the reality of the relationships in surrogacy and forcing people into categories they do not belong to. Change that is informed by the experiences of members of surrogacy arrangements and the social workers who interact with them is overdue.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…A Swedish study by Arvidsson et al (2018b) found that social workers are uncertain about their role, given the absence of legal guidance, and that they wrestle with ethical questions relating to informed consent as well as the sometimes conflicting interests of the surrogate and child. In another study, Arvidsson et al (2018a) found that intended parents were affected quite profoundly by a process they experienced as protracted and unsuitable, despite social workers' efforts to make the system work for their clients. However, the Swedish system is not similar to that of the UK or New Zealand so it is difficult to make detailed comparisons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fear and Uncertainty: The Surrogacy Triad’s Experience of Social Workers’ Role Ambiguity

Walker

Zyl

2020

The British Journal of Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In New Zealand, as in the UK, the surrogate is the legal mother of the child until parentage is transferred by the court to the intended parents. Social workers are responsible for assessing the intended parents’ suitability to parent and scrutinising the arrangement. However, courts almost invariably transfer parentage, regardless of their recommendations, with the result that social workers experience a significant amount of role ambiguity. We conducted semi-structured interviews with surrogates and intended parents about their experience of surrogacy in New Zealand, focussing on the changes they would like to see in the regulatory framework, particularly with regards to legal parentage and the involvement of social workers in assessing intending parents’ suitability to parent. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts showed that role ambiguity and role conflict experienced by social workers have their corollary in the experience of intended parents and surrogates, where it manifests as either fear that the adoption could be declined or uncertainty about the purpose of the social worker’s involvement. Although participants recommended that their role be eliminated—along with the adoption process itself—we argue that there is a valuable role for social workers at the beginning of the process.

show abstract

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear and Uncertainty: The Surrogacy Triad’s Experience of Social Workers’ Role Ambiguity

Walker

Zyl

2020

The British Journal of Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…thirteen on Indian ( 19–31 ), nine on the US ( 32–40 ), and five articles on the Israeli context ( 36 , 41–44 ). The least studied country contexts in this sample include Greece ( 45 ), Iran ( 46 ), Italy ( 47 ), Mexico ( 48 , 49 ), Norway ( 50 ), Sweden ( 51 , 52 ), and Russia/Ukraine ( 53 , 54 ). In countries where surrogacy is not legal, only intended parents through transnational surrogacy have been interviewed (e.g.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surrogacy relationships: a critical interpretative review

Payne

Korolczuk

Mežinska

2020

Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Based on a critical interpretative review of existing qualitative research investigating accounts of 'lived experience' of surrogates and intended parents from a relational perspective, this article proposes a typology of surrogacy arrangements. The review is based on the analysis of 39 articles, which belong to a range of different disciplines (mostly sociology, social psychology, anthropology, ethnology, and gender studies). The number of interviews in each study range from as few as seven to over one hundred. Countries covered include

show abstract

“…However, joint adoption has been very difficult to achieve for same-sex couples (Malmquist & Sp˚anberg Ekholm, 2020), and because lesbian couples gained access to fertility treatment with donated sperm in 2005, fewer lesbian couples are willing to engage in shared parenting with gay men (Malmquist, 2016). At present, gay men generally face formidable obstacles when trying to start a family (Andreasson & Johansson, 2017;Arvidsson, Johnsdotter, Emmelin, & Ess en, 2019;Malmquist & Sp˚anberg Ekholm, 2020).…”

Section: Gay Fatherhood In Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Surrogacy arrangements are not allowed within Swedish healthcare (SOU 2016:11), but there are agencies that help couples and singles to carry out surrogacy pregnancies abroad. India was a common destination before that country banned foreign couples' surrogacy (Arvidsson et al, 2019;Sydsj€ o, Skoog Svanberg, & Lampic, 2019). Currently, most Swedish gay couples turn to clinics in the United States.…”

Section: Gay Fatherhood In Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructions of surrogates, egg donors, and mothers: Swedish gay fathers’ narratives

Malmquist

Höjerström

2020

Feminism & Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The study explored in detail how Swedish gay fathers (through surrogacy) talked about the surrogate mother and the egg donor. Thirteen semi-structured interviews with 22 gay fathers were conducted and analysed using critical discursive analysis. The surrogates were primarily constructed as a close family member, but occasionally in terms of their instrumental function. They were often described as active and independent, but occasionally as vulnerable or exploited. The egg donors were in some interviews constructed as close family members, while others talked about them as distant acquaintances. Further, donors were constructed either as a significant individual (for the fathers), or as an instrumental provider of the oocyte. While some participants constructed the surrogate and/or donor as their child’s mother(s), others were more reluctant or ambivalent about the mother construct. In conclusion, the participants engaged in rhetorical work that shed a positive light on surrogacy, and their own decisions were depicted as solid, ethical and genuine. The participants’ positive framing can be understood as the production of a counter discourse, in relation to an ongoing debate in Sweden, in which surrogacy is constructed as exploitation, dehumanization and prostitution.

show abstract

Being questioned as parents: An interview study with Swedish commissioning parents using transnational surrogacy

Cited by 18 publications

References 19 publications

Fear and Uncertainty: The Surrogacy Triad’s Experience of Social Workers’ Role Ambiguity

Fear and Uncertainty: The Surrogacy Triad’s Experience of Social Workers’ Role Ambiguity

Surrogacy relationships: a critical interpretative review

Constructions of surrogates, egg donors, and mothers: Swedish gay fathers’ narratives

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About