Paperwork: Following the trail of (identity) papers in transnational commercial surrogacy

König, Anika and Majumdar, Anindita (2022) Paperwork: Following the trail of (identity) papers in transnational commercial surrogacy. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 63 (5-6). pp. 247-264. ISSN 0020-7152

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Abstract

Transnational surrogacy—the carrying of a child by a woman in one country on behalf of persons in another—is strongly shaped by documents. Of these, identity documents are particularly crucial as they establish the belonging of a child born through such an arrangement both to its parents (birth certificate) and to a country (passport). However, the acquisition of these documents is subject to national laws that may contradict one another in transnational settings where citizens of more than one country are involved. As a result, in the last few years, there have been several cases of children stuck in legal limbo without clear parenthood and citizenship. Based on ethnographic research in India and Germany, we analyze how in such a transnational setting, documents and documentation become part of the making and unmaking of persons and belonging. © The Author(s) 2022.

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IITH Creators:

IITH Creators	ORCiD
Majumdar, Anindita	UNSPECIFIED

Item Type:

Article

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Assisted reproductive technologies; birth certificate; custody; Germany; identity documents; India; parenthood; passport; surrogacy; transnational reproduction

Subjects:

Arts > Liberal arts

Divisions:

Department of Liberal Arts

Depositing User:

. LibTrainee 2021

Date Deposited:

15 Oct 2022 06:01

Last Modified:

15 Oct 2022 06:01

URI:

http://raiithold.iith.ac.in/id/eprint/10957