COMMERCIAL SURROGACY AND THE ETHICAL IMPLICATION OF EXPLOITATION: A KANTIAN PERSPECTIVE.

ABSTRACT

Surrogacy is a complex term because of the legal and social disapproval it faces in some climes. Despite this, the practice is increasing as a solution for people who cannot procreate through natural or medical procedures. One important argument against surrogacy holds that it violates the dignity of the pregnant woman. The reasoning that defends and seeks to justify surrogacy, in contrast, is based on the autonomous volition of participants. The method adopted in this research is critical analytical method; this is to argue against surrogacy which is seen as exploitation of the poor women that are used as a commodity by the rich to achieve their aim of bearing children. The ethical theory of Immanuel Kant regarding the dignity of persons and, concomitantly, the autonomy of volition in carrying out acts as individuals capable of being governed by their own rationality, especially in relation to the future surrogate mother. Our objective is to analyze the scope of surrogacy in order to affirm that, under certain circumstances, the dignity of the pregnant woman is not violated, contrary to what opposing postures affirm. We further argue that the exercise of the autonomous volition of the participants in surrogacy is not sufficient to attribute an ethical meaning to the figure that would justify the practice, since certain deficiencies in the theory applied limit its ability to achieve the scope that would be required to conduct a more thorough analysis of surrogacy.