Khloé Kardashian voices what feminists have known for decades about the exploitative industry

In a recent episode of The Kardashians, Khloé Kardashian spoke out about her negative experience with surrogacy after using another woman to give birth to her new son in 2022. 

"I felt really guilty that this woman just had my baby. Then I take the baby and go to another room, and you're separated," Kardashian said. "I felt it was such a transactional experience."

Kardashian's remarks shed light on the commodification of women's bodies and the impact on the children born through surrogacy — an issue radical feminists have been raising for nearly half a century since the practice began to rise to prominence. 

Last month, feminist activist group SCUM made headlines with their disruptive non-violent protest against surrogacy at the Cannes Film Festival. The protest featured a heavily pregnant woman with a barcode printed across her belly, and the message “STOP SELLING US.” The protest appeared to be met on social media with widespread support. 

Surrogacy: A Form of Commercial Sexual Exploitation

The surrogacy industry has created a market where women's reproductive capacities are commodified, reducing pregnancy and childbirth to a transactional exchange. This perspective raises significant ethical concerns about the treatment of women as objects to fulfill the desires of prospective parents.

One of the central issues is the power dynamics involved in surrogacy arrangements. The vast majority of surrogate mothers come from poor backgrounds in developing nations (often India, Ukraine, or Mexico), driven by economic desperation to enter into surrogacy agreements. They face financial hardships and are lured by promises of substantial compensation. The reality, however, often falls short of their expectations, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.

While proponents argue that surrogacy offers financial opportunities for women, the reality is often far from empowering. Surrogate mothers are frequently underpaid for the physical and emotional toll they endure. They face risks to their health and well-being, including being pumped full of hormones and undoing multiple procedures, but the compensation they receive is inadequate and insufficient to address the long-term consequences of their involvement in surrogacy.

In India, for example, it often takes at least two surrogate pregnancies for a woman to pull herself out of poverty. The contract negotiations heavily favor the intended parents and take place under coercion and intimidation, leaving the surrogate mothers with limited rights and protections. One Indian surrogate mother reported, “I wanted one copy of the contract for myself, but I didn’t dare to ask for one… one page was also blank which I signed and also the amount was not filled in. She (the agent) didn’t give us a chance to read the agreement.” The human rights violations in the industry eventually led to India banning international surrogacy in 2021, however, according to Indian feminist activists, the system remains fraught for women.

The stories shared by surrogate mothers paint a distressing picture of their experiences. Many of them face coercion and manipulation from agencies and intended parents who prioritize their own desires over the well-being of the women involved. The lack of agency and control over their own bodies and reproductive capacities further exacerbates the exploitative nature of the industry.

In Ukraine, a popular “reproductive tourism” country where babies are advertised for sale like commodities on Black Friday deals (yes, actually), over 100 babies were left stranded with un-prepared birth mothers after Ukraine closed its borders to foreign travelers in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Then, when the Russian invasion started, surrogate mothers were forced into impossible choices such as leaving their existing children behind in Ukraine to flee at the contractual behest of the baby’s intended parents.

One woman who spoke out against BioTexCom, a large surrogacy agency in Ukraine, described the situation in dire terms: 

“We were all very stressed. Most of the women come from small villages and are in hopeless situations…We spent the first week just lying around, crying. We couldn’t eat. This is a typical situation for surrogates.”

“If we weren’t home after 4pm, we could be fined 100 euros. We were also threatened with a fine if any of us openly criticised the company, or directly communicated with the biological parents.”

“We were treated like cattle and mocked by doctors… There was no hot water, we washed with plastic bottles over the toilet with water that was preheated in a kettle. I wanted to be transferred to a different hospital, but the staff threatened to not pay me at all if I complained.”

Surrogates have essentially no rights under these contracts, including the right to an abortion. If a surrogate mother chooses to terminate the pregnancy for any reason (including concerns for her own health), the breach of contract not only means she would no longer be entitled to any compensation, but she could also face other legal challenges. 

Children born through surrogacy often face trauma, as well. In addition to being separated from their birth mother and often trafficked across international lines, the industry is rife with abuse. In an especially egregious example, a man in Australia used a woman via surrogacy to have twin daughters for, it appears, the sole purpose of sexually abusing them and distributing child pornography online. 

Feminists are fighting to protect mothers and children 

Surrogacy perpetuates the patriarchal idea that women's bodies are objects to be used for the benefit of others. It commodifies the reproductive capacities of women, reducing them to vessels for gestation and childbirth, while denying them agency and control over their own bodies. In many ways, there are parallels to the feminist concerns with prostitution: when a woman’s body is a commodity, it is always a violation of her human rights and dignity. 

Feminist activists and scholars have been vocal in their critiques of surrogacy, calling on nations to ban the practice. Last year, WoLF supporters took action to oppose Indiana House Bill 1104, the Gestational Surrogacy and Gamete Donation Act, which would have made several changes to existing laws that would weaken women's medical autonomy — even allowing men to harvest eggs from comatose or brain-dead women. The bill was reintroduced this past January as HB 1267 and sits in Committee. 

Wealthy couples, however,  who have utilized surrogacy often push back against these criticisms, defending their choice and asserting their right to build a family at the expense of another woman’s body. They contend that surrogacy provides a solution for individuals and couples struggling with infertility or other reproductive challenges.

Rich gay men have been recently particularly instrumental in the normalization of surrogacy, including going so far as to claim lack of insurance coverage for IVF is homophobic “discrimination.” Queer Eye star Tan France and his husband used a surrogate to birth a child for them in 2021, their announcement on Instagram gaining over 1.8 million likes. Entire companies have popped up catering to gay men, such as Men Having Babies, Same Love Surrogacy, and IARC Surrogacy — which brands itself with rainbow pride. Much like the transgender movement, the surrogacy industry has latched itself onto the gay rights movement like a parasite, aiming for acceptance by association.

But hopefully, Khloé Kardashian's remarks signal a turning tide in public perception against surrogacy. As high-profile figures speak out about their negative experiences and feminist voices gain traction, more people are becoming aware of the potential ethical and emotional concerns associated with surrogacy. The recognition of surrogacy as a form of commercial sexual exploitation and the acknowledgment of the traumatic separation experienced by children may lead to increased scrutiny and calls for stricter regulations.

Take Action! 

Write to Indiana's state senators and representatives today and ask them to vote NO on House Bill 1267, which would create the Gestational Surrogacy Act and Gamete Donation Act. This bill would change state law on surrogacy, resulting in a devastating blow to women's reproductive autonomy.

Want to learn more? 

Check out WoLF’s radical feminist recommended reading on Women's Bodily Autonomy, including Women As Wombs: Reproductive Technology and the Battle over Women's Freedom by Janice G. Raymond; and Being And Being Bought: Prostitution, Surrogacy, and the Split Self by Kasja Ekis Ekman.