Without distracting from the important points recently shared I thought I'd post this. Another review of BBC Three's The Surrogates and again from a magazine focused on fashion and skin cream; here the Stylist complains that there were no women of colour represented in the documentary series.
www.stylist.co.uk/entertainment/the-surrogates-bbc/495523
"There is currently an increasing conversation surrounding maternity and the alarming dangers for ethnic minority women during pregnancy and childbirth, often caused by systemic racism and bias in maternal care. This means there is a growing number of women from all backgrounds seeking alternative methods for pregnancy, including surrogacy, and there are agencies set up specifically to cater for diverse parents and birth mothers. Could the researchers not have found one woman of colour to take part? It’s certainly a glaring omission for a docuseries with such a worthy mandate but it does answer a lot of questions about surrogacy in the UK that is grounded in real, relatable human experiences – albeit through a white lens."
Well what an interesting point! Had a poor black or asian surrogate mother been found to examine surrogacy under a 'brown' lens would that have highlighted the point about surrogacy being exploitative? Obviously not all black women are poor and but was this deliberately avoided by the BBC or an oversight or neglect of being inclusive?
The article isn't probing the real issues at all but merely spinning it for their own 'inclusiveness' I think, had they really thought about that point they may have found out more:
"In 16 weeks, she has accumulated £7,000 worth of receipts, from childcare for her son to beauty products to counter the pregnancy hormones’ effects on her skin, but mostly for keeping the baby healthy for nine months. “The client is the baby,” she says but points out that her health and life is also at risk. “There’s no amount of money that takes away that edge of being a surrogate.”