In recent years, India has emerged as a global “hub” of reproductive tourism, in part because of lower costs but also due to minimal regulatory frameworks for the provision of assisted reproductive technologies. While much of the existing literature on reproductive tourism focuses on ethics, law and policy, surprisingly little has been written about how the actors involved experience and negotiate the challenges and struggles encountered in transnational gestational surrogacy. Who are the actors involved in commercial surrogacy in India and what are their motivations, experiences and personal histories? How does local policy and legislation in India relate to the broader transnational flows of people and technology?

Drawing on twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork in India, this presentation provides a broad overview of commercial surrogacy practices and policies in India with a focus on the experiences and narratives of the wide range of actors involved, including intended parents, surrogate mothers, and egg donors. The rapid growth in IVF clinics coupled with the increase in reproductive travelers to India has elicited intense debate among policymakers and bioethicists over how to regulate this rapidly growing practice. This presentation aims to contribute to these ongoing debates by highlighting the importance of ethnographic perspectives in understanding concerns about existing regulations, transnational inequalities and women’s health and reproductive rights.