Surrogacy: a legal framework overview and a Feminist perspective

Abstract

With the aim of determining if surrogacy actually leads to the exploitation of women and of their bodies, this thesis gives an overview of the practice, from a more general collection of data and the analysis of the legal framework regulating it at different levels; to the ethical and moral criticalities it arises. The fragmented, and still not homologated, legal background has led to the necessity to restrict the selection of countries to analyse and, consequently, to the decision of presenting the normative body of 4 or 5 most representative states in which the practice has been: severely prohibited, partially allowed, totally permitted or in which there are draft proposals for a new regulation. At international level, a confrontation with the Human Rights framework led to emphasize the most critical aspects of the practice, while at European level, an insight of the study commissioned by the European Parliament gave an overview of the current situation in the EU states and present possible common solutions. As with regard to the moral and ethical aspects of the practice, the most debated and thorny issues have been analysed through the lens of feminist writings and literature. Moreover, in order to present the reaction of contemporary feminist thought, the last chapter presents the different positions taken by the main feminist groups of the most involved countries on the issue.