Brussels, 25 November 2025
A conference on surrogacy, organised by the ECR group at the European Parliament, took place on Wednesday 19 November.
One year after the decision of the Italian government to forbid reproductive exploitation of women, this large gathering of NGOs called for a universal ban on reproductive exploitation.
The most attended part was the speech of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls Reem Al-Salem (Jordan), who especially underlined that “There is no meaningful distinction between commercial and altruistic surrogacy.” Futhermore, the Special Rapporteur explained that there is no international right to have a baby or found a family by all means, an ideological twist frequently used to promote the business of surrogacy. She also recalled the strong interdiction for States to entertain human rights violations. With figures, she also explained that “Sometimes contributions for altruistic surrogacy is so high that it is actually a commercial surrogacy.” On a more philosophical level, Reem Al-Salem stated that, according to her, surrogacy had deep racial roots : “Racism and paternalist with post-colonial stereotypes : some receive a thousand more than others.“
FAFCE Advocacy Director Teresa Gerns intervened to recall that the Council of Europe is “the guardian of Human Rights in Europe“, and therefore “should be the institution that condemns this practice and sets a strong, coherent guideline for its abolition”. Further, she explained why and how the Council has the duty and the tools to protect children and women from the practice of surrogacy. She numerized the past actions and ambigous outcomes at the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights on the topic of surrogacy and urged all participants: “We must find common ground to promote the family and its children as a gift, not as a commodity.“
Ms Zeljka Markić, President of “U Ime Obitelji” (In the Name of the Family), spoke to explain the situation in Croatia : “Regulations doesn’t bring anything, we have seen it in California or Greece : regulation brings more surrogacies.” She explained how the Croatian Ombudsman for children changed its mind after hearing her arguments about surrogacy and how adoption could be a good solution to the challenges lived by parents in-waiting for children. The organisation U Ime Obitelji is an observer member of FAFCE.
Ms Valentina di Paco, representative of the Community Pope John XXIII and member association of the Italian Forum of Family Associations, was also among the speakers. She explained how the Community Pope John XXIII carries out actions to eliminate root causes of trafficking, developing later how victims of trafficking suffer strong effects on the long-term. “Only togheter, we will rise against victims of abuse” she said.
Prof. Bernard Garcia Larrain also recalled the conference organised in Rome in April 2024 with FAFCE under the umbrella of the “Casablanca Declaration”.
Following the many other guest speakers, Members of the European Parliament took the floor to express their ideas on how to promote Human rights and women’s rights in particular. MEPs François-Xavier Bellamy, Margarita de la Pisa Carrion, Miriam Lexmann and Paolo Inselvini presented a cross-partisan coalition aimed at leading the battle against the modern slavery that is surrogacy.
