Julie and Val kept on trying for 10 years to get a child. They applied for an adoption, just to be refused after eight years of preparation courses. Now they got new hope for parental happiness: they travel to India in a fertility hospital and pay a surrogate mother to give birth to their child. By telling the personal stories of the protagonists as well as by giving scientific statements, the film opens a wide spectrum of questions: Why is having children so important to us? How far do we go to get a child? And how far for money? How many technical influence remains morally reasonable? When is a woman a "mother"? Who decides what we can do with our own body? And how does the child feel about that? The documentary GEBÄR_MÜTTER examines these questions, follows Julie and Val short before and during the birth of their son and dives into the live of the surrogate mothers. Experts from different fields explain their view on the subject in contrast to the personal experiences. Thereby, the film works with different layers – with real film, 16 mm recordings, animation and staged dance choreographies.