Surrogacy

In a surrogacy arrangement, a woman agrees to become pregnant with the intention of giving the child to another person or couple to raise. Although lesbian, gay, or transgender (LGT) people may use surrogacy to form families with children, in the past decade, it has become a particularly popular pathway to parenthood for gay men. In turn, there is a limited yet growing body of literature describing gay men’s use of surrogacy.

This entry first addresses the diverse types of surrogacy arrangements that may be pursued, including their legality in different parts of the world. Then, attention turns to some of the controversies raised by surrogacy, particularly commercial surrogacy in less developed countries. Next, the entry discusses the relational considerations of gay men forming families through ...