"Surrogacy": the uterus as a biopolitical commodity

Abstract

This article aims to evaluate surrogacy as an instrument of biopolitics for the domination of women's reproductive bodies. To this end, the work was developed using the following question as a problem: to what extent does surrogacy appear to be another form of biopower over women's bodies?  The main objective is to understand the role of biopolitics in controlling women's bodies through the "surrogacy" institute. It is structured in three sections, which correspond to the specific objectives of the study: a) to characterize women's sexual and reproductive rights in Brazil; b) to discuss biopolitics and its mechanisms of control over reproduction and women's bodies; and c) to understand the "surrogacy" institute in the use of the uterus as a commodity. The research method employed was hypothetical-deductive, using bibliographical and documentary research techniques.

Key words: biopolitics; sexual rights; reproductive rights; surrogacy.