When Ekta Kapoor Embraced Motherhood And Normalised Surrogacy For Others

Born on this day, the Indian television producer, and film producer, working primarily in Hindi-language cinema and soap opera, Ekta Kapoor, also embraced motherhood as an “unmarried” woman when it was an unimaginable and impossible subject. One can associate motherhood and marriage in our culture with the hesitation, even amongst the most educated people, to accept single mothers. 

It is not surprising for a country which stigmatises sex before marriage to hyperventilate when a “single” woman chooses to become a mother. According to society, by being so, she smears the reputation of her family and communities around her. Even if surrogacy is attainable with scientific advancements to enable women to embrace motherhood, it did not blur the taboo which revolves around single women who choose to become mothers. 

Ekta Kapoor Surrogacy

Ekta Kapoor was blessed with a boy via surrogacy. The journey, however, was anything except easy for her. In a tweet, she said that it took her years to attain motherhood. Only when IUI and IVF failed, did she opt for surrogacy. Not many women find the strength to share their struggles with fertility openly. As a single woman, she thought herself to be responsible enough to raise a child without the support of the male figure in her life. 

A concept, exclusively linked with marriage is, to achieve “motherhood,” women are always told to develop maternal instincts, and that they need to go by so-called societal norms. A woman must ideally “marry” first before bearing a child to have her motherhood celebrated. Ekta Kapoor said that her parents had finally accepted that marriage is not one of her priorities to embrace motherhood. 

Surrogacy is gaining social acceptance. With infertility rates rising, same-sex couples and famous celebrities opting for children from surrogate mothers, surrogacy is no longer considered a taboo. It was equated with sex work, but factors like poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, the need for money for children’s education, medical treatment for family members and the need for owning a house are influencing Indian women to surrogacy, defying patriarchal values. The attitude toward surrogacy has changed over the years which has been evident from 40,000 to 45,000 children born through surrogacy in the entire country of India.

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The science of infertility medicine has moved way beforehand by leaps and bounds with the advancement of science. When two men or women are bonded with the matrimonial bond, the existence of a new family that comes into place is considered to be complete when they have been gifted with the delivery of the children. However, there are some couples who are not capable to have their own child. The absence of a child is considered a stigma in the family. There are many instances where the inability to have a child led to a matrimonial breakdown. The inability to have a child which is known as infertility in medical terms is a global problem. 

Although Ekta Kapoor’s embrace of motherhood is not path-breaking, it certainly defies social taboos associated with surrogacy and will generate more acceptance in the society of a single women who chooses to have children. 

The views expressed are the author's own.