Surrogate Mothers

From: Caroline Grillot

Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 5:53 AM

Dear List,

During some recent fieldwork research near Mong Cai (Quang Ninh), I have heard stories among locals about Vietnamese surrogate mothers. Some women would become surrogate mother for some Chinese couples on the other side of the border (illegally of course). I can't find any documents related to this. Has anyone ever heard about such stories and read about them?

Thank you for your help,

Caroline Grillot

PhD candidate

Anthropology department

Macquarie University

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From: Melissa Pashigian

Date: Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 12:04 PM

Dear Caroline,

I have an article and chapter that will be out this summer that address issues of surrogacy nationally in Vietnam and that are also touched on in my upcoming book, Suitable Medicine for Suitable Lives: Infertility, Medicine, and Transformation in Vietnam.

They are:

“The Womb, Infertility, and the Vicissitudes of Vietnamese Kinship.” Journal of Vietnamese Studies (June 2009) 4(2).

“Inappropriate Relations: the Ban on Surrogacy with In Vitro Fertilization and the Limits of State Renovation in Contemporary Vietnam.” In Assisting Reproduction, Testing Genes: Global Encounters with New Biotechnologies. Edited by Daphna Birenbaum-Carmeli and Marcia C. Inhorn. New York: Berghahn Books (2009).

Best wishes,

Melissa Pashigian

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Department of Anthropology

Bryn Mawr College