Zooming in on commercial surrogacy in Russia and Ukraine, Intimate Strangers addresses market expansion into the intimate spheres of life that play out on women's bodies as mothers and workers. ...Veronika Siegl follows the inner workings of a surrogacy market marked by secrecy, distrust, and anonymous business relationships. She explores intended mothers' anxious struggles for a child in light of stigmatized infertility and the aggressive biopolitics of motherhood; the uncertain but pragmatic pathways in and out of fertility clinics as surrogates navigate harsh economic realities and resist being objectified or morally judged; and the powerful role of agents and doctors who have found a profitable niche in nurturing and facilitating other people's existential hopes. Intimate Strangers discusses these issues against the backdrop of ultra-conservatism and moral governance in Russia, the rising international popularity of the Ukrainian surrogacy market, and the pervasiveness of neo-liberal ideologies and individualized notions of reproductive freedom.
During the last two decades, a new form of trade in commercial surrogacy grew across Asia. Starting in India, a “disruptive” model of surrogacy offered mass availability, rapid ...accessibility, and created new demands for surrogacy services from people who could not afford or access surrogacy elsewhere.   In International Surrogacy as Disruptive Industry in Southeast Asia , Andrea Whittaker traces the development of this industry and its movement across Southeast Asia following a sequence of governmental bans in India, Nepal, Thailand, and Cambodia. Through a case study of the industry in Thailand, the book offers a nuanced and sympathetic examination of the industry from the perspectives of the people involved in it: surrogates, intended parents, and facilitators. The industry offers intended parents the opportunity to form much desired families, but also creates vulnerabilities for all people involved. These vulnerabilities became evident in cases of trafficking, exploitation, and criminality that emerged in southeast Asia, leading to greater scrutiny on the industry as a whole. Yet the trade continues in new flexible hybrid forms, involving the circulation of reproductive gametes, embryos, surrogates, and ova donors across international borders to circumvent regulations. The book demonstrates the need for new forms of regulation to protect those involved in international surrogacy arrangements.
Reproductive-aged breast cancer (BC) survivors have different ideas regarding the experience of motherhood after cancer treatment. Some BC survivors considered motherhood a miracle of God, an ...unexpected pleasant event, and an incredible opportunity to return to everyday life before a cancer diagnosis. Against these positive aspects of motherhood, the transition to motherhood responsibilities accompanied by the fear of cancer recurrence and becoming an ill mother are some challenges among survivors. Also, fear of losing the ability to breastfeed due to mastectomy, fear of not devoting enough energy to care for the newborn, and meeting the infant or other child’s needs were the most common challenges of BC survivors after childbirth. Motherhood in BC survivors is associated with negative attitudes and fear toward death and breastfeeding. To increase the happiness and psychological well-being among these women regarding motherhood, considering the multidimensional supportive program and survivorship care after treatment regarding fertility issues lead to converting motherhood as an opportunity and hope for these women after experiencing a complicated treatment process.
After suffering interpersonal violence (IPV), women survivors can access various interdisciplinary services and programmes to guide their recovery. Nevertheless, many vulnerable women postpone ...seeking help, sometimes indefinitely. Motherhood especially complicates help-seeking because mothers often want to protect both the perpetrator and their children. Understanding women's resilience, resources, and capacities in surviving IPV, however, could guide the development of helpful services that women actually access. Thus, in our study, we sought to explore the agency, resources, and reinforcing survival experiences of survivors of IPV. Our data, gathered in Finland during the COVID-19 pandemic, consisted of 12 narratives of mothers told in Clinical Ethnographic Narrative Interviews that were subsequently subjected to thematic analysis. Five themes describing personal resources, motherhood, and nature were identified under the overarching metaphor of "going forward like a grandmother in the snow". Recognising the agency, resources, capacities, and coping mechanisms of women who have suffered IPV can help in developing professional outreach programmes, promoting women's early access to useful resources, and, in turn, helping them to stop the possible intergenerational transmission of violence.
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