<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>When an individual is unable or unwilling to become a parent the natural way, he/she can avail of a surrogate mother. Furthermore, when the surrogate pregnancy takes place in a foreign country, the practice is popularly referred to as ‘surrogacy tourism’ or ‘birther tourism’, which is the main topic of this research. In contrast to existing research most of which is confined to the medical angle, here we look at how marketing makes surrogacy tourism more accessible but concomitantly promotes unwanted ethical and marketing practices, even if inadvertently. On one hand, rigorous promotion of surrogacy tourism has successfully spread the word and has made such option available to individuals who would have otherwise been unaware of such opportunity. On the other hand, excessive marketing has resulted in unethical, illegal and in some cases, unhealthy medical practices in which, service providers, clinics and doctors often participate, but on which there appears to be scant research. This analysis, therefore, has two-fold implications: first, the findings can be extended to several other related professions, such as the medical community, administrators, law enforcement agencies and most importantly, potential ‘parents’; secondly, it can aid administrators and regulators tighten extant loopholes in the system, and thereby, provide a more robust and safer option for surrogate tourists.</p>
</abstract>

When an individual is unable or unwilling to become a parent the natural way, he/she can avail of a surrogate mother. Furthermore, when the surrogate pregnancy takes place in a foreign country, the practice is popularly referred to as ‘surrogacy tourism’ or ‘birther tourism’, which is the main topic of this research. In contrast to existing research most of which is confined to the medical angle, here we look at how marketing makes surrogacy tourism more accessible but concomitantly promotes unwanted ethical and marketing practices, even if inadvertently. On one hand, rigorous promotion of surrogacy tourism has successfully spread the word and has made such option available to individuals who would have otherwise been unaware of such opportunity. On the other hand, excessive marketing has resulted in unethical, illegal and in some cases, unhealthy medical practices in which, service providers, clinics and doctors often participate, but on which there appears to be scant research. This analysis, therefore, has two-fold implications: first, the findings can be extended to several other related professions, such as the medical community, administrators, law enforcement agencies and most importantly, potential ‘parents’; secondly, it can aid administrators and regulators tighten extant loopholes in the system, and thereby, provide a more robust and safer option for surrogate tourists.

Ethical and marketing perspectives on surrogacy tourism

Ethics & Bioethics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Ethical and marketing perspectives on surrogacy tourism"}

When an individual is unable or unwilling to become a parent the natural way, he/she can avail of a surrogate mother. Furthermore, when the surrogate pregnancy...

Ethical and marketing perspectives on surrogacy tourism

Published Online: May 27, 2023

Page range: 28 - 37

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2023-0003

Keywords
pregnancy tourism, surrogacy, assisted reproductive technology

© 2023 Somjit Barat, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Ethical and marketing perspectives on surrogacy tourism

Published Online: May 27, 2023

Page range: 28 - 37

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2023-0003

Keywordspregnancy tourism, surrogacy, assisted reproductive technology

© 2023 Somjit Barat, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
pregnancy tourism, surrogacy, assisted reproductive technology