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A review by caitlyn888
The Farm by Joanne Ramos
5.0
People have been marketing this book as a "Handmaid's Tale" read-a-like, and while I can draw the obvious connections between the two (women serving as surrogates for couples who can't have their own babies, the loss of autonomy for the surrogates), I think "The Handmaid's Tale" is more dystopian while "The Farm" represents a very possible reality. The concept of an organization where millionaires pay top dollar for poor and working class women to stay in a facility for the duration of their pregnancy could be a lucrative business operation in the future. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have used an agency called Family Creations to find their surrogate and paid a good chunk of change to both the agency and the surrogate for their baby, and the surrogate had to follow strict guidelines set forth by the celebrity couple. Basically, this stuff already happens, just not on such a grand scale.
Joanne Ramos raises some interesting questions throughout the book, namely: Is surrogacy really an autonomous, free-minded choice if you are a poor immigrant with no other prospects? Is placing a premium price on certain surrogates (read: white, middle-class) really based on health quality or just ingrained racist beliefs? At what point do the restrictions placed upon these women transform the facility from a retreat into a prison? Should the "Clients" (those paying for the surrogacy) get full say over what happens to the "Hosts" (the surrogates) since they are paying top dollar for the care and well-being of their future child?
Ramos doesn't set out to answer all of these questions, but she makes the reader think about women as a commodity in the quickly-evolving fertility industry. There is big money in this field, which leads one to wonder if the humanity aspect of surrogacy will eventually become second to the business transaction. This is truly a thought-provoking read.
Joanne Ramos raises some interesting questions throughout the book, namely: Is surrogacy really an autonomous, free-minded choice if you are a poor immigrant with no other prospects? Is placing a premium price on certain surrogates (read: white, middle-class) really based on health quality or just ingrained racist beliefs? At what point do the restrictions placed upon these women transform the facility from a retreat into a prison? Should the "Clients" (those paying for the surrogacy) get full say over what happens to the "Hosts" (the surrogates) since they are paying top dollar for the care and well-being of their future child?
Ramos doesn't set out to answer all of these questions, but she makes the reader think about women as a commodity in the quickly-evolving fertility industry. There is big money in this field, which leads one to wonder if the humanity aspect of surrogacy will eventually become second to the business transaction. This is truly a thought-provoking read.