International surrogacy - poor regulation risks exploiting women

International surrogacy is where intending parents arrange for another woman to bear a child for them. There’s a wide variety of legal arrangements around the world, and recent report from the EU reviews the mix of arrangements across the EU. A recent ‘roundtable’ meeting looked at the situation in the UK, in particular looking at the best interests of the child.

Many legal systems are rather obstructive to surrogacy, but it seems to be increasing internationally. In particular, surrogacy by Indian women is said in a recent report to be unregulated, and the women involved are unprotected and thought to suffer from poor care.

But, of course, being able to have a child when you can’t have one yourself is very important to many couples, so this is an issue that is not going to go away. Thoughtful regulation in what increasingly seems to be an international industry is increasingly important, in the interests of both the women and the children.

Link to the report on the roundtable (also has links to other documents)

Link to the EU report

 

Link to the Indian report.

Indian Robin Hood says politicians are thieves too

Somewhat charmingly, an Indian jewel thief has claimed a political Robin Hood motive for his actions - here's the report from the Hyderabad Times:

"I am fed up with the way the system is functioning these days. Politicians are thieves who loot us for five years and I became a thief just for a night to show the world the growing inequality in the country"...If given a chance, I can serve the society better than any politician," said Kumar, who has four brothers and a widowed mother at home to feed from the paltry money he earns as a mason...

Kumar, the prime accused, walked into a local television channel's office late on Sunday and told the receptionist that he was the one who had carried out the heist. "My cousin Anand needs money to undergo a surgery. We tried to get help, but no one cared," he told the police later.

 

Social work ideas from India to the US showcases increasing cultural translation

Gurid Aga Askeland and I argue in our book on Globalisation and International Social Work that people should aim at 'cultural translation'. That is, they should write about ideas in ways that are can be used in other cultures. When you do this, you have to recognise that your ideas will be changed by the other culture. But this is enriching, because when they come back to you, they give another perspective on your original idea. Increasingly, we are beginning to see this, as people from other countries publish in Western countries about social work elsewhere: this can only enrich social work in Europe and the US where people think that they have nothing to learn from other cultures and 'poor' countries. I argued this in my recent speech at the Stockholm world conference on social work and social development.

I see Lyceum are publicising a book by Sweta Singh, an Indian social worker in the US, who is writing about how holistic practice and Hindu ideas taken from his Indian heritage can be used in his adopted country.

Link to the publisher's website.