Who Owns a Baby? Sophie Lewis on Ethical Surrogacy & the Future of Pregnancy

Who Owns a Baby? Sophie Lewis on Ethical Surrogacy & the Future of Pregnancy

From Private Parts Unknown: Sex & Love Around the World by Courtney Kocak

June 3, 2026 · 37 min · Season 5 · Episode 262

About this episode

Courtney Kocak interviews Sophie Lewis about ethical surrogacy and the future of pregnancy.

Save 10% on your next Fleshlight with promo code PRIVATE10 at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fleshlight.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For the 262nd episode of Private Parts Unknown, host Courtney Kocak welcomes scholar, feminist writer, and author Sophie Lewis. Known for provocative books like Full Surrogacy Now, Abolish the Family, and Enemy Feminisms, Sophie challenges some of our most deeply held assumptions about pregnancy, parenthood, caregiving, and who a child belongs to. In this episode, we dive into the physical realities and risks of pregnancy, the ethics of surrogacy, reproductive labor under capitalism, and why Lewis believes our ideas about family and biological ownership deserve a closer look. We also discuss maternal mortality, the future of reproductive care, children's rights, and the surprisingly real possibility of birth strikes and artificial womb technology. For more from today's guest, Sophie Lewis: Buy Sophie's book Fully Surrogacy Now⁠ Preorder Sophie's new book Femmephilia Follow Sophie on Instagram @reproutopia Check out Sophie's website lasophielle.org Get your copy of Girl Gone Wild from…

People in this episode

Host: Courtney Kocak

Guest: Sophie Lewis

Topics covered

  • ethical surrogacy
  • pregnancy
  • parenthood
  • reproductive labor
  • maternal mortality
  • children's rights
  • artificial womb technology

Keywords

  • surrogacy
  • pregnancy ethics
  • reproductive rights
  • maternal health
  • family structure
  • birth strikes
  • artificial wombs

Sponsors

Fleshlight

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pleasure Podcast network, Bookshop.org, Amazon

Books & works: Full Surrogacy Now, Abolish the Family, Enemy Feminisms, Femmephilia

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