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A review by atomic_tourist
Full Surrogacy Now by Sophie Anne Lewis
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Lots of original ideas here! Imo Lewis should have expanded her scope. She states that Full Surrogacy Now is not a case study, right before delving into a case study of the Akanksha Infertility Clinic, which takes up a solid 2/3 of the book... Meanwhile, I found myself wanting to see Lewis's analysis of other 'infertility clinics' both in India and globally.
The call for Full Surrogacy was likewise stunted. It's a powerful notion but Lewis didn't present much beyond a philosophical ideal. What would this look like in practice? (In praxis?) How do we expand our understandings of what it means to 'mother'? How do we support laborers (as in, those going into labor) of all types, be they typical surrogates or not? What will taking down and rebuilding the idea of a 'family' look like across the world? Lewis poses these questions but doesn't give many concrete answers.
I leave this work feeling curious to see what else is out there on surrogacy and family abolition. Kudos to Lewis for setting up some big ideas - now I have to hunt for details to fill in the blanks.
The call for Full Surrogacy was likewise stunted. It's a powerful notion but Lewis didn't present much beyond a philosophical ideal. What would this look like in practice? (In praxis?) How do we expand our understandings of what it means to 'mother'? How do we support laborers (as in, those going into labor) of all types, be they typical surrogates or not? What will taking down and rebuilding the idea of a 'family' look like across the world? Lewis poses these questions but doesn't give many concrete answers.
I leave this work feeling curious to see what else is out there on surrogacy and family abolition. Kudos to Lewis for setting up some big ideas - now I have to hunt for details to fill in the blanks.