Right to the own body: the women’s position in the context of surrogate motherhood

Abstract

The current debate about surrogate motherhood is taking up the traditional discussion about the right to the own body, its possibilities and its limits. The scientific advances about assisted reproduction and women's exclusive ability to have children place the woman at the center of a debate that runs between her consideration as a vulnerable subject and her ability to decide in relation to her own body. In this context, the present paper analyzes the theoretical premises that allow to configure the decision-making ability of women in relation to the decisions that affect their own body and their integrity, defining their threshold of autonomy, applying it to surrogate motherhood and trying to determine if it is possible that a woman decides having children for other people and how she can do it.

doi: https://doi.org/10.20318/eunomia.2017.3646