Open AccessA bibliometric analysis of research on surrogacy: Current trends and gaps between international law and new technology
Author(s) -
Waldimeiry Corrêa da Silva
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
revista chilena de derecho y tecnología/revista chilena de derecho y tecnología
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.317
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 0719-2576
pISSN - 0719-2584
DOI - 10.5354/0719-2584.2021.63742
Subject(s) - multidisciplinary approach , political science , emerging technologies , phenomenon , bibliometrics , law , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , data mining
Surrogacy or surrogate motherhood is a global phenomenon that has been on the rise since the 1980s. Academic research on surrogacy has adapted to the emerging challenges of this practice by becoming vast and highly multidisciplinary. To orient future research, we employ a bibliometric analysis to make a radiograph of past and current trends in the surrogacy literature. Our results indicate that (1) despite surrogacy being a global market, perspectives from economics and international law are being neglected; (2) research is not addressing the most concerning issues for policy, such as exploitation or human trafficking and the impact of technologies for the protection of the rights of the parties involved; and (3) surrogacy literature output is largely clustered in a handful of Western countries. Taken together, these results point to a huge gap between research and policy. Future research should address these neglected issues to better inform policy makers and the impact of technology on the law.