Reproductive tourism: The case of India A feminist critical discourse analysis of Indian gestational surrogacy tourism

Within an increasingly globalized medical community, people have begun to travel outside of their own geographic locations in order to obtain various medical procedures. Reproductive tourism is one of the latest developments of health tourism and can be understood as individuals obtaining some type of reproductive assistance from outside of their home jurisdiction. India has become a major reproductive tourist destination for foreign couples seeking gestational surrogacy services. I refer to this situation as Indian gestational surrogacy tourism. This paper uses a feminist critical discourse analysis in order to analyze media representation of Indian gestational surrogacy tourism. Indian gestational surrogacy tourism can be understood as being presented as an ethical master narrative within which discursive frames are used to argue either for or against Indian gestational surrogacy tourism. Those presenting this as a positive development use discursive frames that promote India as an ideal destination for gestational surrogacy services. Conversely, those who are critical of this practice use discursive frames that present legal, ethical and dehumanization concerns.