Too High a Cost: End Surrogacy Now - Preventing…

In line with the theme of the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the meeting will examine in particular the nexus between economic vulnerability and the reproductive exploitation of women. Building on the increasing momentum for the abolition of surrogacy, the event will advocate for States and the international community to work towards the adoption of a legally binding instrument prohibiting this practice in all its forms.

Surrogacy refers to a form of third-party reproduction in which commissioning parents contract women to become pregnant with and give birth to children which the commissioning parents intend to take custody of and raise. In both "commercial" and so-called "altruistic" surrogacy, numerous adults may claim parental rights over the child: the commissioning parents, the "gestational" carrier (or surrogate), her eventual spouse, and the genetic parents (who "donate" their gametes). Many women who agree to serve as surrogates do so out of economic need only to find themselves at risk of exploitation and abuse. Likewise, children are commodified to satisfy the desires of adults at the expense of their own rights and wellbeing.

Organizers: The Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations and ADF International

Co-Organizers: Juristes pour L'Enfance, Le Syndicat de la Famille, and World Youth Alliance