Transnational Surrogacy: Vietnam’s Deliberate Choice of a Separate Path

• Main Author: Van, Ngo Thi Anh
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Subjects: transnational surrogacy; assisted reproductive services; commercial surrogacy; altruistic surrogacy; surrogacy in Vietnam
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/apssr/vol23/iss1/5; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/apssr/article/1485/viewcontent/RA_204.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

Many developing Asian countries are known as promising transnational commercial surrogacy markets for infertile foreign couples. Although there have been recent reports stating that transnational surrogacy is surreptitiously taking place in Vietnam, this country has never taken the path to become an ideal destination for foreigners looking for surrogacy. By comparing and analyzing the economic, demographic, medical, and legal aspects of some Asian countries, along with the survey of over 166 rural women in Vietnam, this article aims to explain why Vietnam, while sharing various similarities with the typical countries such as India and Thailand, has not been a transnational surrogacy center. The research shows that legal policy and psychosocial factors are the barriers preventing this service from being popularized in Vietnam. The results give some implications for controlling the reproductive service industry in developing Asian countries.