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| Sanhita Mukherjee |
Indian storyteller Sanhita Mukherjee spins a tale of female empowerment rooted in love for family and children in “Maternal Might.” Bangladeshi mother Fatima becomes the family’s breadwinner when she accepts a job as a surrogate for the first child of gay Israeli couple, Abel and Joshua. Mukherjee walks us through the characters’ moral dilemma as they get involved in novel arrangements that defy societal norms. The story reinforces the power of money and status in creating opportunities that are not readily available to others.
The story is told from a pragmatic point of view: women living in poverty use their bodies in exchange for money so they can provide for their families. Fatima’s job is not different from women’s work involving taking care of other people’s children. Attitudes about parenting meet modern science with the overlay of religious considerations. A Muslim woman has made the economic decision to bear the child of a Jewish couple in Nepal, a predominantly Buddhist country.
In its current iteration, the story is a quick read, but it could easily be adapted to long-form prose. We understand the economic necessity of surrogacy for Fatima, and yet, there’s much to explore in Abel and Joshua’s decision to become parents. There are also plenty of opportunities to delve into the emotional lives of surrogate mothers. The reader is left wanting more, to explore how the decision of engaging in surrogate motherhood – as the birth mother or the expecting parents – affects everyone involved.
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