This study aims to investigate the relationship between women who make a contract or an agreement and biotechnology, the role and effects of the contract or agreement about being related with biotechnology, the characters of social relationships and r...
This study aims to investigate the relationship between women who make a contract or an agreement and biotechnology, the role and effects of the contract or agreement about being related with biotechnology, the characters of social relationships and recognitions about the contract or agreement, and the way how these things consist of women's experiences through women's technolonized contract-pregnancy experiences. For the mean time, most of the argument about the surrogacy in Korea was concerned in issues of laws or morals. On the other hand, this study is possible to answer and analyze about the inquiries of surrogacy by focusing on women's real experiences such as making a contract and getting surrogate mother. Also, this study will be helpful to understand how related the bio-technologies about surrogacy to the contract of surrogate mother and how the bio-technologies affect surrogate mothers' bodies and experiences. Throughout these, this study suggests that surrogate mothers who are already considered as the bio-technologies' tools and means are considered as main users of bio-technologies. The main methodology of this study is the depth-interviews of commercial surrogate mothers who had experiences of surrogacy contract's relationships and surrogacy procedures. In addition, this study was examined the references and analyzed the discourses.
Currently, people in Korea consider 'surrogate mother' as one of the active methods to cure a sterility symptom. Therefore, a form of contract-surrogacy is constructed ART(assistance reproductive technology) and all kinds of clinic managements and medical tests. The scientific and medical understandings about the sterility and the surrogacy rationalize the pregnancy/delivery's use of the surrogacy. It avoids slightly Korean society's moral and ethic criticisms about commercial surrogacy and solves social duty and pressure of the lineage through technology. The established motherhood admitted by 'giving birth to a child' through the surrogacy contract is estimated less than the motherhood of 'wanting to have a child'. The biotechnology makes it is possible to separate the uterus and the ovum. Therefore, the motherhood admitted by 'giving birth to a child' can be separated 'the ovum motherhood' and 'the uterus motherhood'. And the ovum motherhood is estimated more than the uterus motherhood. The surrogate women's maternal experiences are not considered and are concealed and being disappeared in process of exploiting and applying the ART. The project "making the normal family" is needed to surrogate mothers' participation and they are cooperating the project. On the other hand, the surrogate mothers threaten the 'normal family ideology' and present various possibilities that can constitute new family form. In Korea, the surrogacy contracts are not approved socially and legally. This makes surrogate mothers being unstable and restricts their agency. On this other hand, this has possibilities extending and diversed surrogate mother's agency. The surrogate mothers' agency is comprised of various methods by contract process and the intervention of technology, but the experiences of surrogate mothers is hard to reflect and intervene directly in medical technology and medical hegemony. The reproductive right of women and a right for integrating woman's bodies are competing in woman's body and other women.
This result is important to find that women are not victims of the capital and the class or not a means of technology, and women negotiate by herself positions and roles and regard experiences of surrogate mother as their important project of life. To research the construction surrounding surrogate women is as important as to research agency of women. However, this study dose not deepen these structual problems. And participants' characters of this study contribute to research agency of women. At the same time this is the limitation of the study and can not be generalized surrogate mothers' experiences and agency.