Social and Cultural Challenges of Surrogacy: The Experience of Surrogate Mothers in Yazd City, Iran

Application development in new assisted reproductive technologies (ART), such as surrogacy, have helped many infertile couples realize their dreams of haveing children; but at the same time, it has raised several problematic dimensions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the obstacles and challanges of surrogate mothers experience. The study method is qualitative and phenomenological anthropology. The research field study was conducted in 2019 with the help of participatory observation tools and in-depth interviews with 12 surrogate mothers during a period of 5 months at the research institute of reproductive sciences in Yazd. The data were analyzed using the Attride-Sterling thematic analysis method. Findings are expressed in the form of 27 concepts, 9 sub-themes and 4 main themes including social misunderstanding, emotional dependence on the fetus, pregnancy problems, and social camouflage. These themes indicate the obstacles and problems surrogate mothers face Cultivation in this field, and paying attention to emotional needs and providing psychological counseling for surrogate mothers are suggested.