This article examines three predominant discourses that are part of the analysis of commercial surrogacy: the commodification of "motherhood;" the "romance" of the gift relationship; and the "agency" of the surrogate mother, especially in relation to the feminist and academic analysis of commercial surrogacy in India. Motherhood, agency, and the romance of the gift continue to influence the study and analysis of surrogacy as strong rhetorical ideologies. In the process, they are reified as the primary structural contexts within which surrogacy seems to operate. The article reviews the contemporary research literature on commercial surrogacy to look at the academic engagements with these three ideas. © 2014 Asian Institute.