Surrogacy in the United States: analysis of sociodemographic profiles and motivations of surrogates

Research question: What is the profile fi le of women in the USA who become surrogates, and what is their power of decision and motivations? Design: This quantitative study was performed with 231 participants in the USA, given the country's ' s long history of surrogacy, to help clarify the profile fi le of women who become surrogates, their power of decision and motivations. Results: Descriptive and multivariate cluster analyses showed that women who become surrogates earn above the average income for their state of residency, have a high level of education, have health insurance, are employed, and decide to become a surrogate for prosocial/altruistic reasons. Conclusions: In contrast to the premise of both radical feminism and ultra-conservative Catholicism, this study found that altruism and empathy are the primary motivations for participating in surrogacy processes, and that a woman's ' s decision to become a surrogate is not motivated by social conditioning relating to poverty or social status.