In a major new report, the first of its kind, the UN’s leading expert on issues affecting women and girls has called for UN member states to prohibit surrogacy in all forms.
The UN Special Rapporteur, Reem Al Salem, will present her report to the UN General Assembly in October. The report can be read here.
The report made a number of findings and recommendations relating both to surrogacy and egg donation. The consultation which underpinned the report received 120 submissions from around the world, including from British women’s rights groups including Surrogacy Concern and Stop Surrogacy Now UK, and included online consultation sessions with 78 stakeholders, including surrogate mothers.
The report states that in 2023, the global surrogacy market was valued at $14.95 billion and is projected to reach $99.75 billion by 2033. Surrogate mothers often receive only a small fraction of the overall payment made by commissioning parents, with the majority of the fee going to intermediaries or surrogacy agencies. Unlike in adoption, where parental assessment is recognized as an essential child protection measure, very few, if any, background checks are carried out on commissioning parents; instead, the primary requirement placed on commissioning parents is the financial capacity to pay a substantial sum for the surrogacy procedure. Globally, most surrogate mothers come from lower-income backgrounds and have less social status compared with the commissioning parents. Many surrogate mothers lack access to effective legal remedies or advocacy mechanisms.
The report concluded:
“The practice of surrogacy is characterized by exploitation and violence against women and children, including girls. It reinforces patriarchal norms by commodifying and objectifying women’s bodies and exposing surrogate mothers and children to serious human rights violations. Considering the above, the Special Rapporteur recommends that Member States and other relevant stakeholders:
(a) At the international level, take steps towards eradicating surrogacy in all its forms.
(b) Work towards adopting an international legally binding instrument prohibiting all forms of surrogacy;
(c) Adopt a legal and policy framework for surrogacy that is modelled on the Nordic model for prostitution and includes pillars for penalizing buyers, clinics and agencies to end the demand for surrogacy; decriminalizing surrogate mothers; providing exit support strategies for surrogate mothers. Consequently, the advertising of surrogacy services and agencies must be prohibited.”
We are delighted to see this report and support its recommendations wholeheartedly. We hope the British Government follows Ms Al Salem’s recommendations and moves to prohibit surrogacy, in all forms, as soon as possible.
