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. Western medical model of the body Representations of racialized "Others" Discipline process Stratified reproduction

Agency 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 Stratified reproduction Kinship ideology Reproductive rights Limited opportunities and protection for poor and working-class women in India