The Farm

This book surprised me. It talks about a group of women’s experience as “Hosts” or surrogates for the babies of wealthy families.

Though the concept is not foreign, especially in today’s society, the 1% of the world can take any commodity to an immoral extreme. The women are trapped, tracked, and psychologically manipulated in order to produce the best baby possible in the most favorable of conditions. While this wouldn’t necessarily harm the host, her feelings and wellbeing are only considered in relation to the baby’s. To the agency’s credit, they do pay their hosts a life-changing amount of money, especially to those that are white or Filipina, the more ‘desirable’ ethnicities.

The story was more complex than I expected. Nobody was evil, everyone was doing something for the betterment of their family. The hosts, the employees, even the clients. Everyone needed money to give their families (often their children) the best lives possible so that they would have even better opportunities than they had.

I enjoyed this book because it really shows how far a mother will go.