A social media post from a famous French fashion designer showed a pair of twins obtained from a surrogate mother. Questioning the fate of the mother of the two babies, Marion Maréchal—head of the Reconquête party’s list for the European elections—found herself targeted by members of the government accusing her of homophobia, all while promoting a practice that is prohibited by French law.
On Monday, April 22nd, French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus posted on Instagram a photo of himself and his husband Marco Maestri, welcoming the birth of two little babies, Mia and Sun, born to a surrogate mother. All with the requisite amount of commentary on their incredible happiness and the great adventure of fatherhood, designed to garner the proper volume of likes, heart emojis, and other demonstrations of digital enthusiasm expected in such circumstances.
In the face of this politically correct explosion of happiness, dissonant voices were heard. And one in particular, that of Marion Maréchal—who leads the list of the right-wing national-conservative Reconquête party at the forthcoming European parliamentary (EP) elections. On X, the young woman, herself mother of two little girls, posted soberly: “Where’s mom?” (Où est la maman ?) It’s a legitimate question, especially when you consider the difficult ordeal of giving birth to twins, after a trying twin pregnancy—for the health of both the little ones and the mother.
That was all it took to unleash a torrent of indignant reactions against the woman who dared to break the blissful consensus surrounding the happy fathers. Unsurprisingly, reactions came from the far Left. Predictably, Communist MP Ian Brossat declared that it’s always better to have two cute daddies than one ugly fascist mom.
But the most intense attacks certainly came from members of Emmanuel Macron’s government and party. Clément Beaune, former Minister of Transport and MP for Paris, homosexual and personally in favor of surrogacy, tweeted against Marion Maréchal: “Never the last to say something disgusting, about a family and children.” One can appreciate the violence of the invective, compared to the sober “Où est la maman?” modestly slipped in by Maréchal. Former Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt, also a homosexual and a supporter of surrogacy—Macron’s government staff has no shortage of such individuals—explained in an oleaginous post that “having a family with two dads who love each other, that’s what’s essential.” Government spokesman Prisca Thévenot, meanwhile, condemned Marion Maréchal’s “unabashed homophobia”, while celebrating the 11-year anniversary of the passage of the law authorizing gay marriage and asserting her desire to fight for “the rights of all citizens.”
A major outburst in response to a simple question—but a forbidden one: “Where’s mom?”
It’s one thing for these high-ranking personalities to think that the womb rental market is great and full of promise. But that they should be promoting it, as elected representatives and ministers, when it is a practice that is prohibited in France—and, until proven otherwise, punishable by law—is quite simply confounding. So the government spokesman rises to the defense of a right that does not exist, and even of an act which is liable to prosecution. We might now expect the minister of education to encourage students to skip school, or the minister of justice to promote bank robbery.
The arguments used by Maréchal’s detractors go to the legally sensitive point of homophobia. But the simple and banal forbidden question would have been asked with the same relevance if Simon and Marc had been called Arthur and Martha. “Where’s mom?”
Asked about the ongoing controversy, Rassemblement National MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy brushed aside accusations of homophobia levelled at Reconquête’s vice-president and came to her defense: “It’s not homophobia. Surrogacy is forbidden in France. It’s completely surreal to see Mme Thevenot, the government spokesman, welcoming the fact that we’re breaking a law that exists,” he declared on Wednesday, April 24th on BFMTV and RMC.
But the best response to the defamation came from Marion Maréchal herself, who was asked to explain her divisive post. Far from retracting her comments, she chose to address the members of the presidential majority directly, saying: “Dear Clément Beaune, Prisca Thevenot, Olivier Dussopt: ‘it’s a question of ethics and dignity’”.
These words were not chosen by chance. They are in fact a reprise of a tweet by Emmanuel Macron from 2017, in which he declared, “During my five-year term, surrogacy will remain banned in France. It’s a question of ethics and dignity”, wrote the then presidential candidate. A clever way for Maréchal to put the Macronists at odds with their own boss who, unless we hear otherwise, remains hostile to the legalization of surrogacy in France. We don’t know how the Élysée reacted to the affair, but there must certainly have been some charged conversations.
There are unfortunate coincidences in the calendar. At the same time as Mr Portemus and his alter ego were proudly displaying the fruits of their shopping, the EP had just voted in favour of equating surrogacy with human trafficking.
In the meantime, our thoughts go out to the mother of these two little ones, whose face will never be seen on social media, and who almost certainly had barely any time to catch a glimpse of these little beings she carried in her womb for nine months. For the record, the value of the transaction remains unknown, but don’t worry about Messrs Jacquemus and Maestri: their wallets are certainly well-stocked.
“Where’s Mom?”: The Forbidden Question
Marion Maréchal
JOEL SAGET / AFP
A social media post from a famous French fashion designer showed a pair of twins obtained from a surrogate mother. Questioning the fate of the mother of the two babies, Marion Maréchal—head of the Reconquête party’s list for the European elections—found herself targeted by members of the government accusing her of homophobia, all while promoting a practice that is prohibited by French law.
On Monday, April 22nd, French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus posted on Instagram a photo of himself and his husband Marco Maestri, welcoming the birth of two little babies, Mia and Sun, born to a surrogate mother. All with the requisite amount of commentary on their incredible happiness and the great adventure of fatherhood, designed to garner the proper volume of likes, heart emojis, and other demonstrations of digital enthusiasm expected in such circumstances.
In the face of this politically correct explosion of happiness, dissonant voices were heard. And one in particular, that of Marion Maréchal—who leads the list of the right-wing national-conservative Reconquête party at the forthcoming European parliamentary (EP) elections. On X, the young woman, herself mother of two little girls, posted soberly: “Where’s mom?” (Où est la maman ?) It’s a legitimate question, especially when you consider the difficult ordeal of giving birth to twins, after a trying twin pregnancy—for the health of both the little ones and the mother.
That was all it took to unleash a torrent of indignant reactions against the woman who dared to break the blissful consensus surrounding the happy fathers. Unsurprisingly, reactions came from the far Left. Predictably, Communist MP Ian Brossat declared that it’s always better to have two cute daddies than one ugly fascist mom.
But the most intense attacks certainly came from members of Emmanuel Macron’s government and party. Clément Beaune, former Minister of Transport and MP for Paris, homosexual and personally in favor of surrogacy, tweeted against Marion Maréchal: “Never the last to say something disgusting, about a family and children.” One can appreciate the violence of the invective, compared to the sober “Où est la maman?” modestly slipped in by Maréchal. Former Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt, also a homosexual and a supporter of surrogacy—Macron’s government staff has no shortage of such individuals—explained in an oleaginous post that “having a family with two dads who love each other, that’s what’s essential.” Government spokesman Prisca Thévenot, meanwhile, condemned Marion Maréchal’s “unabashed homophobia”, while celebrating the 11-year anniversary of the passage of the law authorizing gay marriage and asserting her desire to fight for “the rights of all citizens.”
A major outburst in response to a simple question—but a forbidden one: “Where’s mom?”
It’s one thing for these high-ranking personalities to think that the womb rental market is great and full of promise. But that they should be promoting it, as elected representatives and ministers, when it is a practice that is prohibited in France—and, until proven otherwise, punishable by law—is quite simply confounding. So the government spokesman rises to the defense of a right that does not exist, and even of an act which is liable to prosecution. We might now expect the minister of education to encourage students to skip school, or the minister of justice to promote bank robbery.
The arguments used by Maréchal’s detractors go to the legally sensitive point of homophobia. But the simple and banal forbidden question would have been asked with the same relevance if Simon and Marc had been called Arthur and Martha. “Where’s mom?”
Asked about the ongoing controversy, Rassemblement National MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy brushed aside accusations of homophobia levelled at Reconquête’s vice-president and came to her defense: “It’s not homophobia. Surrogacy is forbidden in France. It’s completely surreal to see Mme Thevenot, the government spokesman, welcoming the fact that we’re breaking a law that exists,” he declared on Wednesday, April 24th on BFMTV and RMC.
But the best response to the defamation came from Marion Maréchal herself, who was asked to explain her divisive post. Far from retracting her comments, she chose to address the members of the presidential majority directly, saying: “Dear Clément Beaune, Prisca Thevenot, Olivier Dussopt: ‘it’s a question of ethics and dignity’”.
These words were not chosen by chance. They are in fact a reprise of a tweet by Emmanuel Macron from 2017, in which he declared, “During my five-year term, surrogacy will remain banned in France. It’s a question of ethics and dignity”, wrote the then presidential candidate. A clever way for Maréchal to put the Macronists at odds with their own boss who, unless we hear otherwise, remains hostile to the legalization of surrogacy in France. We don’t know how the Élysée reacted to the affair, but there must certainly have been some charged conversations.
There are unfortunate coincidences in the calendar. At the same time as Mr Portemus and his alter ego were proudly displaying the fruits of their shopping, the EP had just voted in favour of equating surrogacy with human trafficking.
In the meantime, our thoughts go out to the mother of these two little ones, whose face will never be seen on social media, and who almost certainly had barely any time to catch a glimpse of these little beings she carried in her womb for nine months. For the record, the value of the transaction remains unknown, but don’t worry about Messrs Jacquemus and Maestri: their wallets are certainly well-stocked.
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