The Hague Conference, an intergovernmental organisation responsible for ensuring co-operation in terms of family law, must decide today whether it accepts to work on a future text “for shaping international law in relation to transnational surrogacy, and facilitate the mutual recognition of parenthood from surrogate mothers’ contracts“.
Several feminist associations and Human Rights [1] defenders alongside European and American personalities[2] are calling for the drafting, within the scope of the UN, of an “international agreement to abolish surrogacy based on the abolition of slavery model“. Yesterday, they published a contribution explaining that “surrogacy is a social practice contrary to human dignity“, and that “any instrument attempting to organise or shape the practice of surrogacy would be inconsistent with international legislation currently in place“.
These associations denounce preliminary biased studies: “The Bureau has only interviewed professionals actively involved in surrogacy – people who are not only stakeholders but who often promote this social practice”.
They regret that “the question of its possible ban has not even been raised when this practice is strictly prohibited in many countries”.
“Selfless surrogacy does not exist“, point out these associations, and “legitimising this kind of human market would constitute a defeat for international law“. “There is no room for this type of practice in a civilised world“.
[1] The European Women’s Lobby, the Swedish Women’s Lobby, Feminist bot to surrogacy, the Romanian Women’s Lobby, Coordination des associations pour le droit à l’avortement et à la contraception (Co-ordination of Associations for the Right to Abortion and Contraception), the Coordination lesbienne en France (Lesbian Co-ordination in France), la Lune, Association of Feminist Lesbians, Elu contre les violences faites aux femmes (Against Violence to Women), l’Assemblée des femmes (Womens’ Assembly), Center for Bioethics and Culture, Collectif pour le respect de la personne (Collective for the Respect of the Individual).
[2] Gertrud Astrom (Sweden), Kajsa Ekis Ekman (Sweden), Elfriede Hammerl (Austria), Alice Schwarzer (Germany).
AFP 23.03.2015 – Collectif CoRP 23.03.2015