Mothers who turn to surrogacy to support their families face ostracism, study shows

Surrogate mothers face extensive social humiliation in India, a new study has found.1

Published in the May 2014 issue of the journal Affilia, the study led by Sharvari Karandikar of the Ohio State University in the United States has pointed out that surrogate mothers in India face stigma from extended family and community that forces them to leave their homes and relocate after surrogacy.

Karandikar and colleagues did a qualitative study—by conducting in-depth interviews with 15 surrogate mothers from the Gujarat state of India. All 15 women who participated were married and had had at least one biological child before becoming a surrogate mother.

The researchers noted that women were referred …