Abstract
After the release of new Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill in 2020, surrogate
mothers in India showed greater concerns over the rights to their
bodies. Despite receiving economic compensation from the intending
parents, surrogates have failed to convert their income into greater
well-beingness. In understanding what Sen (1999) claimed as
Capability Poverty, the research investigated the concept through
a dynamic interaction analysis of Bourdieu (1984)’s Capital
formation throughout the contracted pregnancy, contributing to the
surrogacy literature a novel ground in depicting a more dynamic capital
formation. The inconvertibility of economic capital for social,
cultural, and emotional capital proved a continued suffering for
surrogates, including both physical exploitations due to oppressive
medical settings and psychological burdens from stigmatisation
(re)produced from the traditional values and geographies of class. In
debating over whether surrogates possess actual ability to exercise
their agency over structure, it is essential that this research reminds
once again their choices over work are not made in isolation from
socioeconomic and cultural factors.