Attitudes about surrogacy in Social Work students in Mexico

Introduction. Surrogacy is the process by which a woman conceives a foetus with genetic material from other people and transfers the affiliation to a third party based on a preestablished contract. Sinaloa and Tabasco are the only states in which surrogacy is legal in Mexico. Moreover, Mexico is a major cross-border market for reproductive tourism, in which different clinics and agencies operate with the help of social workers. In this context, an analysis was conducted to understand the attitudes and social representations about surrogacy in Social Work students from Sinaloa (Mexico). Methodology. A mixed-methods study was undertaken with a concurrent nested design. A sample of 454 students from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (Mexico) was selected through simple random probabilistic sampling. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was applied which included the female population attitude scale towards surrogacy and two open questions on the concept and their opinion of surrogacy. A descriptive analysis of central tendency measures and a content analysis were undertaken through an emergent categorisation process. Results. The students' attitudes towards being or using a surrogate mother were in the average range (M=2.62). Likewise, negative attitudes towards surrogacy (M=3.61) were higher than positive ones (M=3.07). On the other hand, the social imaginary about surrogate mothers was based on family categories, the actions to which it was linked, and the surrogate mother characteristics. Discussion. In line with previous studies, it was confirmed that family dynamics were conditioned by both legal and sociocultural issues. Moreover, the affective component and the social imaginary influenced the subjects' attitudes towards surrogacy. Conclusion. The positions in favour were based on the categories of altruism, the right and the technicalisation of reproduction, while the discourses against rested on issues related to neoliberalism, patriarchy, psychology, and law. In this sense, it is important to promote specific training actions on surrogacy in Social Work training programmes in Sinaloa (Mexico) based on a critical feminist perspective.