Thailand Law Journal 2013 Fall Issue 1 Volume 16

The informal and personalised nature of the interaction between a prospective surrogate mother and a commissioning couple enhances a surrogate mother's confidence not only in the financial transaction but also in the meaning of the arrangement itself. Ragoné noted that surrogacy programmes in the US often stress the theme of the "gift of life" and encourage commissioning
couples to establish a personal relationship with the surrogate mother (Ragone 1994; Schwartz 2003). In fact, commissioning couples may provide very expensive gifts. In contrast, Pande and Vora both suggest that Indian surrogate mothers are usually kept at a distance from local or foreign commissioning couples (Pande 2010; Pande 2010; Pande 2009; Vora 2009; Vora
2009). In such cases, the commodification of procreative capacity is undisguised, and surrogacy is tantamount to offering a "womb for a rent" and nothing else. The nature of "message board surrogacy" allows women to counteract the potentially demeaning implications of a blatant commercialisation of procreative work and the commodification of their body. Through
intense personal interactions with intended parents, the process of surrogacy can be choreographed in such a way that it appears as both a compassionate and meritorious act. By choosing a caring and kind infertile couple, the surrogate can reasonably expect that her service will be reciprocated by "grateful" beneficiaries. This partly explains why becoming a surrogate through an online message board can appear attractive, even to Thai women who are not economically desperate.

Despite these advantages, "message board surrogacy" also contains seeds of difficulties. The informal and backdoor nature of surrogacy arrangements can be associated with medical and psychological risks. First, Thai women who become a surrogate through this route are likely to be insufficiently informed of medical risks during pregnancy. Second, the legal invalidity of the surrogacy contract means that surrogate mothers are left without any legal means to rectify damage. For example, when intended couples fail to pay the agreed amount of money or when they refuse to accept a newborn due to a disability, the surrogate has no legal recourse. Finally, prospective surrogates may not be prepared to deal with various problems during surrogacy. In the US, commercial agencies have made psychological screening and counselling a routine process, and peer communication occurring in the context of support groups provides social support (Ragone 1994; Edelman 2003). Such approaches to the psychological processes involved in surrogacy are not available to Thai women. Thus, they walk into a "psychological minefield" (Cook 2003) without much protection.

V. Concluding Remarks

The surrogacy experience may vary from country to country and depends, in part, on cultural, social, and historical contexts. ARTs and third-party reproduction are still poorly explored in emerging Asian countries. This study examined one way that surrogacy is practised in Thailand. Further empirical research will be needed to address ethical issues related to ARTs, public policies regarding CBRC, and commercialisation of surrogacy in Asian countries.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, 2009–2010 (21200026), by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research for Young Scientists (B) (22710262), 2010, and by the Funding Program for Next Generation World Leading Researchers, 2011 (LZ006). We would like to thank the women who participated in this study and the staff who provided assistance.

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