Surrogacy—or contract pregnancy—has become a global industry, growing at unprecedented speed. In India alone, this industry is valued at over US$450 million per year. Whereas the sex industry is increasingly targeted by legislators as exploitation, the surrogacy industry retains a rosy image. Helping an infertile couple to have a baby of their own is seen as a generous and compassionate gesture from a woman who can help: a sign of female empowerment and free will. In this way, everyone can have their own genetic children without having to undergo pregnancy, and poor women can earn some extra money. It looks like a win-win situation. But is it? At a closer glance, the surrogacy industry has more to do with prostitution than we might think. Not only is it exploitation of women's bodies—in fact surrogacy is nothing but baby trade.

Kajsa Ekis Ekman is is a Swedish journalist, writer and activist. She is the founder of Feminists Against Surrogacy and the climate action group, Klimax. Her latest book is Being and Being Bought: Prostitution, surrogacy and the split self.

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