Parents on the move: German intended parents’ experiences with transnational surrogacy

Abstract

In Germany, gestational surrogacy is strictly prohibited. As a result, intended parents from Germany are forced to travel abroad if they plan to commission a surrogacy. Main destinations for German intended parents are the United States, Ukraine, and until recently also India. Drawing on ethnographic research, this chapter focuses on the specific situation of German intended parents who choose to commission surrogacy abroad. It deals with their experiences in a legally restrictive national context and their strategies to circumvent this, and with their ways of establishing kinship and parenthood, which sometimes include incorporating the surrogate and her family into their extended kin network.