The uncomfortable science in the womb: How biological experience disrupts surrogacy narratives

The discourse surrounding surrogacy portrays pregnancy as a temporary process, depicting surrogates as neutral "carriers" whose involvement concludes at birth. This narrative minimizes gestation's biological significance despite evidence of its lasting effects on both women and children. We interviewed 47 retired Israeli surrogates using thematic analysis to examine how they navigate biological experiences. Surrogates employ frameworks that dismiss gestational bio-ties and emphasize genetic kinship, empowering their act of giving by rendering gestation inconsequential. This framework benefits surrogates, intended parents, and the industry by allowing narratives that overlook certain bio-ties. Two instances challenge this: bodies "talking back" through biological disruptions and intended mothers confronting surrogates about lasting bio-imprints on their babies. These challenges produce "embodied dissonance"-biology clashing with social expectations-and lead to "collaborative biologies," forcing recognition of connections the dominant framework erases. This study addresses bio-ties in surrogacy, paving the way for new frameworks reflecting human reproduction's complexities.