Italy and Chile have launched a campaign to introduce a global moratorium on the controversial practice of surrogacy.
The moratorium has been proposed with a view to eventually introducing a legally binding ban. The declaration was made at an event during a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.
The event was moderated by legal advocacy group ADF International and was co-hosted by representatives of the governments of Italy, Chile, Cameroon and the Vatican.
Critics of surrogacy argue that it entails severe human rights violations by effectively turning a woman’s reproductive capability into a commercial commodity and separating a baby and its mother from an early age.
It has also been argued that surrogacy places the women who carry the baby at medical risk and opens up the possibility of coercion and exploitation. From the child’s point of view, the declaration suggests that surrogacy could have a long-term impact on the psychological and emotional well being of the child and that it raises legal challenges around parentage and nationality.
Eugenia Roccella, Italian Minister for Family, Natality and Equal Opportunities, said, “Surrogacy is no longer a matter confined to domestic legislation or individual choices. It has become a global phenomenon, increasingly shaped by international markets, cross-border arrangements, and profound inequalities within and between societies.
"As policy-makers, we have a responsibility to ask a fundamental question: do we still recognize every human being as a person to be respected, or are we willing to accept situations in which human beings can become a means to satisfy the interests and desires of others?”
The event was also attended by Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls.
She said, “The states that are joining the declaration today recognise that surrogacy raises … fundamental concerns relating to human dignity [and] the commodification of women and children.
"They recognise that these concerns are not only limited to commercial arrangements, but that fragmented national approaches will facilitate the growth of a global cross-border market that transfers harm onto women and children in more vulnerable jurisdictions … This declaration shows that policy action is possible."
Giorgio Mazzoli, Director of UN Advocacy at ADF International, said that surrogacy had expanded rapidly thanks to legal loopholes between jurisdictions.
“Today’s declaration marks an important step forward in building the international consensus needed to confront the grave human rights violations and abuses inherent in the practice," he said.
"We welcome the leadership of the sponsoring states and call on governments around the world to join this movement to protect women and children from an industry that profits from their vulnerability.”
