In July, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, presented a report stating that “the practice of surrogacy is characterised by exploitation and violence against women and children, including girls”.
This is the first time that an international statement has been made on this sensitive subject in such unequivocal terms.
The Casablanca Declaration, an international organisation bringing together associations and experts campaigning for the abolition of surrogacy worldwide, welcomed the report through its spokesman, Olivia Maurel, who was herself born through surrogacy and has made its universal and definitive abolition her cause. She hailed “unprecedented recognition at the highest international level that surrogacy is not an act of love but a form of violence and exploitation.”
The UN report does not merely condemn surrogacy in general terms, but calls on states to take action, recommending that they adopt a “legally binding international instrument prohibiting all forms of surrogacy.” To this end, the document sets out 19 practical measures, with concrete legislative proposals, inspired by the Nordic model applied to prostitution: criminalisation of buyers, agencies and clinics, and decriminalisation of women.
The adoption of such a system by states would put an end to the disguised promotion of surrogacy that exists today in some countries, with the media spotlighting celebrities who have used surrogacy and openly advertise it in the press, even though national legislation prohibits it.
Pro-surrogacy fairs would also be prohibited under the laws proposed by the UN. In France, legal action was taken against fairs selling surrogacy services, such as the Wish for a Baby trade fair, held in Paris in September 2024.
In April 2024, the European Parliament included “the exploitation of surrogacy” in the directive on combating human trafficking—without, however, ruling on the rights of the child. Now the UN is taking the same path, but in more rigorous terms. It is now up to states to create legislation that firmly and definitively ban the practice of surrogacy, and also puts an end to the lax recognition by law of births obtained through this means, a disguised way of tolerating surrogacy.
In Italy, anti-surrogacy legislation was tightened in October 2024, imposing heavy penalties on those involved, whether it is carried out on Italian soil or abroad, for both homosexual and heterosexual couples. By contrast, in France, former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced his intention to study the possibility of legalising surrogacy in France and believes that “ethical surrogacy” is possible. The UN statement provides a scathing rebuttal of his claims.
