In India, surrogacy has transformed itself from a marginalized and socially unacceptable procedure into a multimillion-dollar industry positioning India as a global surrogacy-capital. While surrogacy raises profound questions about our understanding of motherhood and the making of family, it also denaturalizes reproduction and gives agency to women who are surviving on the margins of deprivation and destitution.
The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic have been catastrophic internationally, with alarming rates of cases and deaths, as well as travel bans and countrywide lockdowns. While many industries experienced the negative effects of Covid-19, international surrogacy faced enormous challenges resulting from the pandemic. Due to multiple lockdowns in India, there were serious concerns about surrogate mothers' access to basic services including health care, food, and transportation. In addition, due to the global travel ban, many intended parents were unable to access the fertility clinics and retrieving their babies from the clinics raising concerns ranging from: who should be responsible for the care of the newborn babies, what should be the role of the surrogate mothers in post-natal care of the newborn babies, and what is the responsibility of the fertility clinics and the health care providers towards the newborn babies and the surrogate mothers. 
This talk will foreground the voices of the surrogate mothers in India who experienced immense challenges during the pandemic and will background a discussion on the structural inequities and conditions that constitute those health experiences. 

Heartlines, The Centre for Values Promotion, is a South African-based NGO established in 2002. We aim to contribute to a more equitable, caring, cohesive, healthy and just society. Research shows that children who grow up without the active positive presence of one or more men in their lives  puts them at significant risk of being victims or perpetrators of violence including GBV, mental illness, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy and poor educational and economic outcomes . In South Africa alone, over 65% of children experience male absence. Heartlines is involved in a wide reaching campaign entitled Fathers Matter,  to highlight the important role fathers and father figures play in the lives and well being of children . This SBCC campaign consists of multiple formats including,  6 entertaining anthology films,; talk radio; a website (www.fathersmatter.org.za);  social media, print and community outreach.  This talk will focus primarily on the 6 anthology films and how the stories have been rooted in a rigorous research process out of which messages were designed and scripts crafted . I will also share insights into how the testing process impacted on the  story and characters and how the other media formats support the campaign.  An evaluation has been designed. Covid delayed implementation but we start filming in June and will be on air  later in the year.  This talk will look at how the SBCC process (including research, testing) was embedded in the creation of this powerful edutainment initiative.