SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD: A Catholic-Hindu Moral Exposition in the Current Indian Context of Reproductive Tourism

About the Author Anil Mathew Mangattu OFM Cap is a Catholic priest from India. He holds licentiate and doctorate in bioethics from the Faculty of Theology of Lugano, Switzerland. He teaches Moral Theology and Bioethics at St. Francis Theological College, Kottayam, Kerala and at Vijnananilayam, Eluru, Andhra Pradesh. About the Book … I am glad and proud to state that Surrogate Motherhood is indeed a research study of great quality and depth. It is a relevant and serious work, which courageously in a critical-analytical way undertakes the contemporary issue of surrogacy and its moral and ethical implications in the current reproductive tourism scenario of India. I express my sincere appreciation for the choice of a difficult subject in the Indian and global context. The originality and the rationale of the research can be seen from the fact that so far, no comparative study has been conducted on the morality of surrogacy from the Hindu-Catholic scriptural and moral point of view. In the study, Anil Mathew Mangattu strives to demonstrate how ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata and the Bible become the reference point for modern assisted reproductive technologies and the practice of surrogacy. The logic behind taking up these ancient texts as the point of departure is that these traditional texts have something original and innovative to contribute to our modern problem of infertility and the subsequent innovations of assisted reproductive technologies. It is the rationale that the sanctity and dignity of human life that Hindu-Catholic tradition commonly share and affirm, is the sacred ground in which a human life must be conceived and received. Prof. Dr. A.M. Jerumanis A quiet revolution has been taking place in human reproduction during the past four decades. The way children enter families has changed radically, especially among upper middle class families who have fertility problems worldwide. Asexual or assisted conception, involving medical technologies such as in vitro fertilization and embryo transfers, has replaced sexual reproduction and adoption for infertile heterosexual couples and for same sex couples who need assistance in forming families. As well, third parties, referred to as surrogates, are hired to assist individuals and couples who wish to conceive a child with whom they share a genetic tie. This has resulted in a “surrogate baby boom.” Wealthy families from Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Japan, India and the United States are increasingly selecting surrogacy instead of adoption as a method for acquiring children with whom they have a genetic link. In 1987 Genea Core wrote, “This rise of the surrogate industry does not take place in isolation. It is part of the industrialization and commercialization of human reproduction. It is part of the opening up of the reproductive supermarket.” This book provides a critical and moral introduction to the global surrogacy market, with India as the global reproductive tourism hub for gestational and commercial surrogacy. Although infertility is a global health issue that affects millions of people world-wide, there is ambivalence and anxiety about the morality and complexity of surrogacy. With few regulations to guide the process and protect those involved, however, countries struggle to address its ethical and moral questions, in addition to the legal, political, cultural and environmental ramifications.   TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Abbreviations Preface General Introduction PART ONE: A LITERARY AND HISTORICAL ENQUIRY INTO THE CONCEPT AND PRACTICE OF SURROGACY The Origin and Meaning of Surrogacy Traces of Modern Assisted Reproductive Technologies in the Great Ancient Indian Epic: Mahabharata A Comparative Analysis of the Assisted Reproductive Birth Narratives of Mahabharata with the Biblical Narration of God’s Control over Procreation PART TWO: THE MORALITY OF SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD A Secular-Critical Analysis of the Morality of Surrogacy Ethical Analysis of Reproductive Topics Addressed in Mahabharata A Catholic Moral Assessment of Surrogate Motherhood PART THREE: ADVOCATING A PARADIAM SHIFT IN SURROGACY TO THE INDIAN CONTEXT Emerging Need for Surrogacy Regulations in the Background of Indian Reproductive Tourism General Conclusion Bibliography