Transnational reproductive brokers in crisis

International assisted reproduction depends largely upon the work of various brokers. They mediate and articulate global assisted reproduction assemblage, the mobilities of intended parents, surrogates, ova donors, gametes and embryos through connecting different people, things and places, utilizing their specialized information on logistics, language, laws and access to networks of surrogates or ova donors and clinics. Such networks and assemblages are fluid and subject to change, particularly in times of crisis. We use two senses and temporalities of ‘crisis’ in our analysis, exploring how change in the form of crises may be both creative and destructive to brokerage. We examine firstly the cyclical crisis experienced by intended parents undergoing fertility treatment who are navigating the uncertainties, risks and low chances of success of assisted reproduction. The crisis that infertility presents catalyzes the need for brokers who mediate scarce information around cross-border options for care and resources, creating new opportunities and spaces for intervention and a means through which intended parents regain agency to pursue their future family. The second form of crises examined is episodic crises such as experienced when the international surrogacy industry was banned in Thailand or the war in Ukraine. As the ties of communication, mobility, and social practice rupture, brokers may either lose their status and ability to mediate entirely or transform and recreate it in new forms. They invent new ‘fixes’ to problems and adapt their modes of communication and work. At these ruptures the self-interests of brokers and the moral logics of business are often revealed through mistrust and demands over money, a change in relationship with clients, or in some cases absconding entirely for self-protection. These reveal the creativity and adaptability but also the potential vulnerability that may emerge in the relationship between brokers and their clients.