eprintid: 10205238
rev_number: 10
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/20/52/38
datestamp: 2025-02-25 09:01:00
lastmod: 2025-02-25 09:01:00
status_changed: 2025-02-25 09:01:00
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Cavaliere, Giulia
title: Persons and women, not womb-givers: Reflections on gestational surrogacy and uterus transplantation
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B03
divisions: C01
divisions: F16
keywords: assisted reproduction, bodily autonomy, embodiment, gestation, gestational surrogacy, uterus transplantation
note: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
abstract: In a recent article in this journal, Alex Mullock, Elizabeth Chloe Romanis and Dunja Begović provide an analysis of gestational surrogacy and uterus transplantation (UTx) from the perspective of those who may decide to act as gestational surrogates and womb donors, referred to as ‘womb-givers’. In this article, I advance two sets of claims aimed at critically engaging with some aspects of their analysis. Firstly, I argue that the expression ‘womb-givers’ obscures the biologically, socially and politically salient issue that those who engage in these practices are primarily persons and women. My contention is that this is of substance in discussions of the burdens and benefits of gestational surrogacy and UTx, which need to consider the specific position that women occupy in society, and the hierarchies that mediate their lives, experiences and preferences. Second, I argue that, if one were to take seriously the experiences and preferences of the women who may engage in these practices, and their bodily autonomy, then gestational surrogacy and UTx should be regarded as biologically and sociopolitically incommensurable. Mullock et al. overlook important aspects of gestational surrogacy, such as the embodied nature of pregnancy and childbirth, the sociopolitical significance of these experiences, and the often-oppressive social norms that shape them. Whilst biology is not destiny, I suggest that it is socially and politically ‘sticky’ when it comes to this significance and norms, especially within the sphere of reproduction. Towards the end of the article, I query the authors' conceptualisation of bodily autonomy and of the instruments that enable its respect and promotion.
date: 2022-11
date_type: published
publisher: Blackwell Publishing
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13078
oa_status: green
full_text_type: other
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2313819
doi: 10.1111/bioe.13078
medium: Print-Electronic
lyricists_name: Cavaliere, Giulia
lyricists_id: GCAVA29
actors_name: Cavaliere, Giulia
actors_id: GCAVA29
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Bioethics
volume: 36
number: 9
pagerange: 989-996
pages: 8
event_location: England
issn: 0269-9702
citation:        Cavaliere, Giulia;      (2022)    Persons and women, not womb-givers: Reflections on gestational surrogacy and uterus transplantation.                   Bioethics , 36  (9)   pp. 989-996.    10.1111/bioe.13078 <https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13078>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10205238/1/Cavaliere_Anonymised%20Manuscript%20Accepted.pdf