Facts

Contact person:
Anna Arvidsson
Financer:
  • Jane och Dan Olssons Stiftelse för Vetenskapliga ändamål
Responsible at MaU:
Anna Arvidsson
Project members at MaU:
Affiliated:
  • Lena Sotevik - Stockholm University
  • Katherine Wade - Bristol University
Time frame:
01 September 2025 - 31 August 2026
Faculty/department:
Research environment :
Research subject:

Project description

Surrogacy is a controversial and much-debated reproductive method, and is not permitted within the Swedish healthcare system. At the same time, transnational surrogacy is on the rise in Sweden, where the surrogacy process takes place abroad. Despite the fact that the children are in a potentially vulnerable position from a legal and social perspective, there are only a few international studies that examine surrogacy from the children's perspective and there is a complete lack of Swedish research in which children are involved.

Since 1 January 2020, the Convention on the Rights of the Child has also been Swedish law, which further emphasises the importance of considering the children's perspective. The aim of the study is to explore children's understanding and experiences of being born through surrogacy, the children's views of themselves, their family, the surrogate mother and any egg and sperm donors. The study also explores parents' perceptions of their children's understanding and experience of being born through this reproductive method and how parents have talked to their children about their birth.