Mirrors Project at major academic forums during the summer 2016

Anna Morero Beltrán, coordinadora de Mirrors Project, He has participated in several academic forums during the months of June and July 2016 making known the R & D project "Surrogate Motherhood: family transformations in the XXI century Spain” (CSO2014 55556P). With this research project we intend to conduct a sociological approach to surrogacy in the Spanish State, for analysis using the main conceptual and theoretical tools developed so far. Both appointments have assumed highest academic level spaces in which we could contextualize the phenomenon, feeding the theoretical and methodological reflection and disseminate the first research advances, mainly the online survey we are about to launch.

Specific, at XII Spanish Congress of Sociology held in Gijón day 30 of June, 1 Y 2 of July, our colleague has been sharing our work in the group Family Sociology with a Communication surrogacy: family transformations in the Spanish State. attached, then, the summary of the submission:

“Surrogacy is an increasingly common way to access maternity and paternity in the Spanish State, according to some sources during the year 2014 about 1400 children born through surrogacy in countries as diverse as USA, Russia, Canada or Mexico, according to these data 85% mothers and fathers of intent were heterosexual while the 15% They are gay, nevertheless little is known about these families.

Copolis the Interuniversity Group "Welfare, Social Control", It is developing R & D project "Surrogate Motherhood: family transformations in the Spain of the century " (CSO2014 55556P) which it aims to deepen the knowledge of families who use this technique of assisted reproduction and the social impact that these families have in the context of the current diversity. The initial phase of the project involved the design of a survey on Maternal and Family Diversity Subrogation (ESUDIF) families formed through surrogacy in the Spanish State, in this communication we will introduce the key factors of the survey and design”

On the other hand, at 3rd ISA Forum of Sociology, held in Vienna (Austria) between days 10 Y 14 July 2016, our colleague presented at the Roundtable 2: Gender Issues Across the Globe la comunicación titulada Gestational Surrogacy in Spain: Parental Transformations in the XXI Century in Spain. We attach the abstract communication.

“Gestational surrogacy is an increasingly way to access to motherhood and parenthood. This paper deepens, from a feminist approach, on the questions that surrogacy raises about two key concepts of Western society: motherhood and family.
First, gestational surrogacy challenges the concept of “motherhood” as socially has been constructed and accepted, since it separates the roles of gestational motherhood, social motherhood and genetic motherhood. It also raises a challenge to the existing heteronormative ideals about motherhood the way that traditionally has been understood. The surrogate, rejects social motherhood, leaving the care of the baby to someone else, therefore, she rejects the ideals that place women as primary caregivers (Friend, 2010).
Secondly, surrogacy also states that family becomes a social construction and not a natural product. Through surrogacy, family happens to be created through the market, being no longer a question of destiny but becoming a choice.
Finally, although the Spanish law on human assisted reproduction does not allow surrogacy, since more than twenty years ago Spaniards have been creating families through it. This paper will also give some outputs about the general situation of surrogacy in Spain and its implications. This paper is part of an I+D research project (CSO201455556P) which holds the first survey about the topic, primary data from this survey about the sociodemographic profile of families created through surrogacy as well as about their experience will be presented”.