“We Are Citizens”—Vulnerability and Privilege in the Experiences of Israeli Gay Men with Surrogacy in India

Abstract

In the spring of 2013, I had the opportunity to accompany a group of Israeli gay couples to Mumbai to conduct ethnographic research on their experiences with transnational surrogacy. Based on this study, the article discusses their encounters with the Indian and Israeli bureaucracy establishing legal parenthood and citizenship to their children. The involved procedures seldom worked out smoothly, and brought about many moments of standstill. I suggest that these moments constituted crises of citizenship, in which the intended parents’ experiences clashed with their expectations towards the state and their place in the world. As both countries had no written policies with regards to transnational surrogacy, the protocols and requirements were in flux and left them with constant anxiety from the unknown and with the feeling that many of the requirements were arbitrary, even exploitative or spiteful. The very same moments also unveiled my interlocutors’ power, as agents and brokers—and at times even their social network back home—assisted them in the maze of bureaucracy and intervened on their behalf. Yet, their reliance on intermediators turned out to be a double-edged sword: The intended parents often felt that the middle men themselves were not engaged enough, overcharged them, or tricked them into additional payments. Vulnerability and privilege go here hand in hand, thus allowing for an understanding of intended parents that does not view them as either successful neoliberal citizens or vulnerable victims of the state.

What We Know and What Remains to Be Explored about LGBTQ Parent Families in Israel: A Sociocultural Perspective

“…It was found that the men often felt frustration and concern due to their distance from the pregnant woman and, specifically, their inability to experience the physical presence of the fetus, which hindered the development of their parental identity during the pregnancy. Similarly, Lustenberger [ 68 ] described the experience of a group of gay men who contracted with surrogate mothers in Mumbai and traveled to the Indian city for the birth. The main theme emerging from the interviews was the bureaucratic hardships involved in transnational surrogacy.…”

“…Emotional experience of pregnancy among gay men through surrogacy abroad included frustration and concern due to their distance from the pregnant woman [ 67 ]; qualitative design, n = 16, alongside bureaucratic hardships involved in transnational surrogacy [ 68 ]; qualitative design, n = 20.…”

Higher Levels of Postnatal Depressive Symptomatology, Post-Traumatic Growth, and Life Satisfaction among Gay Fathers through Surrogacy in Comparison to Heterosexual Fathers: A Study in Israel in Times of COVID-19

“…As mentioned before, in Israel, where, until recently, gay men were not allowed to use surrogacy services within the country's borders, gay men who wished to become fathers through surrogacy had to turn to overseas surrogacy services, usually in the United States [44]. This journey to fatherhood often incorporates dealing with stressful circumstances, such as concerns deriving from the geographic distance from the pregnant woman [62] and the many financial, legal, and bureaucratic hardships involved in cross-border surrogacy [63]. These stressful circumstances might promote adaptation that manifests itself in a heightened sense of growth, such as was found among women contending with difficulties in their journey to motherhood e.g., [35,37].…”

Experiences of surrogates and intended parents of surrogacy arrangements: a systematic review

“…Intended parents pursued international surrogacy because arrangements were outlawed in their home country (Carone et al, 2017a), access was restricted to heterosexual couples (Lustenberger, 2017), they were unable to find an altruistic surrogate (Everingham et al, 2014;Jadva et al, 2018), the agreement was unenforceable (Everingham et al, 2014;Jadva et al, 2018) and because international arrangements provided a degree of privacy (Riggs, 2015). Factors that were important to intended parents when deciding which country to pursue surrogacy in included the ability to develop a relationship with the surrogate (Carone et al, 2017a;Jadva et al, 2018) and low costs (Lustenberger, 2016;Jadva et al, 2018).…”