Review of “Watch The Surrogacy”: A Telenovela Problem

The debate on surrogacy has been very current in recent years. This basically deals with whether it is ethical or not for a woman to lend her body to father a baby for a couple. There is talk of the instrumentalization and, even, commodification of women with gestating capacity. Despite the fact that most countries consider this practice illegal, the fact that it is legal in the United States, a world power at the media level, and that celebrities such as Kim or Khloe Kardashian access it, has given it unprecedented visibility.

In Latin America there is a legal vacuum regarding the practice, but it is a debate that has also given us something to talk about. So much so, that the streaming service Netflix decided to produce a new series in which the consequences of this procedure are explored. It is about “surrogate mother”. Although questioning the issue and bringing it to the public light is necessary, the series' claims to denounce remain just that, claims. Below, we take a closer look at the series and where it fails. Be careful, from here you will find spoilers.

What is "Watch The Surrogacy" about?

The new Netflix series focuses on Yeni, a woman of indigenous descent who, to prevent her father from going to jail, is forced to rent her womb to a couple of millionaires and heirs to a powerful pharmaceutical company in Mexico, Carlos, and Julia. From this, we see the injustices of which he is a victim and the consequences that the procedure brings to his life on an emotional level.

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After giving birth, Yeni is discarded by the millionaire family. She wakes up on a park bench next to a baby who turns out to be one of the twins she fathered. This one too was abandoned because he was born with a congenital deformity, so Nora, the babies' grandmother, decides to fake the boy's death and lie to her son and daughter-in-law. The girl, who was born perfectly, stays with Carlos and Julia and grows up surrounded by comforts and luxuries, while the boy grows up with Yeni in a humble environment.

The story is narrated from flashbacks and flashforwards that are spinning the narrative and let us see what happened in the lives of each of those involved while showing us the relationship that was born between Yeni and Carlos.

At the end of the series, the entire network of lies created by Nora is discovered and Yeni begins a love relationship with Carlos.

The problem with "Watch The Surrogacy"

The series was written by Aída Guajardo, recognized by other titles such as “Amy, la niña de mochila azul”, “Para volver a amar”, “Alma de hierro” and “Yo no creo en los hombres” In this sense, the plot responds to a telenovela format and complies with all its formulas: a young, low-class protagonist who must face the exploitation of a high-class family, a villainous woman who will do everything to get rid of the protagonist, a blond and handsome protagonist who, despite being a millionaire, has a heart, and a romance that transcends the limits of social classes and the complications of the plot.

In that order of ideas, everything is presented in an exaggerated way. The situations are supremely forced. In fact, in the first chapter a sweep of almost the entire plot is made, without dwelling on character development or even on the problem. This leads to the fact that most of the series and the situations are unnecessary, which is why moments that are not relevant to the plot are prolonged and that do not end up generating entertainment either.

The claim to denounce a practice that is surrounded by moral questions, remains in the mere intention. The consequences that this could generate are overstepped by putting it in a context in which it seems that everything is done for the bad luck of the protagonist. Thus, "Watch The Surrogacy" is not a series that has critical purposes towards surrogacy, but rather takes a trending theme to move a plot that really has little to do with it.