Surrogate motherhood is back on stage in France and internationally

Several recent events have put surrogate motherhood back in the limelight of the French political and legal stage, as well as the international stage.

On the French political stage

First of all, an announcement by the President of the "Ensemble pour la République" group in the National Assembly, Gabriel Attal, wishes to position the legalisation of surrogate motherhood as an internal debate for the Renaissance party, in the context of a thematic convention which will be subject to a vote by its members. His aim is to raise the question in the run-up to the next presidential election, when the practice is currently strictly prohibited in France and has been declared several times by president Macron as a "red line".

In reaction to the announcement, the Minister for Equality between men and women, Aurore Bergé, declared that surrogate motherhood is "totally contrary to the dignity of women", and she "does not wish that, in order to meet the sincere desire for a child which may exist, one should put in jeopardy the body of women and human dignity." Élisabeth Borne, the National Education Minister, is "totally opposed to it as a woman" and Bruno Retailleau, the Minister of the Interior, stated "we invent lies in order to justify the unjustifiable: that rich men can hire the wombs of poor women."

On the French legal stage

In the middle of the summer, the Constitutional Council (CC) gave a ruling on surrogate motherhood. Although the practice is prohibited in France, people use the device abroad. The Constitutional Council declared as correct the exclusion from the right to paternity leave for the partner of the father of a child obtained through surrogate motherhood. The Constitutional Council considered the difference in situations (between a couple where a woman gives birth to his child, and a couple consisting of two men of which nobody gives birth, since they exploit a surrogate mother abroad in order to obtain a child) justifies the difference in treatment, and as such the principle of equality is duly respected. As commented by the "Juristes pour l'enfance" (Lawyers for childhood) association, "paternity/welcome leave is in fact intended to provide support and accompaniment for the mother after giving birth, and the father of a child born through surrogate motherhood is not a woman who has given birth. In fact, if the situations are different, it is because the child has been deliberately deprived of its mother by the surrogate motherhood contract concluded between 2 men and the surrogate mother exploited by them in order to obtain a child. As the child has been deliberately deprived of its mother, it was particularly cynical on the part of the claimants to invoke the so-called interest of the child to ratify the eviction of its mother in order to make it available to satisfy the parental project of another." The association additionally states that "Any regularisation of the situation resulting from surrogate motherhood does not secure the filiation of the child. Quite the opposite, it secures the deprivation of its filiation and merely secures the situation of the contractors seeking to be recognised as parents after having deliberately evicted the mother."

On the international scene

A very important report by the United Nations has just been published, calling for the abolition of all forms of surrogate motherhood. It is to be presented by Madame Reem Alsalem, the special reporter on violence against women and girls during the 80^th session of the United Nations General Assembly, to be held between 9^th and 23^rd September 2025. It concludes that surrogate motherhood is a form of slavery and human trafficking, at every stage of the process, including to other nations, and states clearly that, even if there are regulations in place, that does not diminish the risk and does not reduce the prejudice. It recommends that "States and other interested parties should devote themselves, at the international level, to take measures in order to eradicate substitution motherhood in all its forms."

This historic report is the result of an important international investigation, enriched by 120 contributions and consultations with some 80 experts and supported by many scientific articles. Alliance VITA had responded to the call for contributions in the spring of 2025, and its contribution is mentioned in the chapter devoted to reproductive violence: "The imbalance between the power of surrogate mothers and contractor parents has serious consequences when the latter force the surrogate mother to abort in the event of a multiple pregnancy or a handicapped foetus."

What about the women, who are primarily concerned, in this matter?

On 4^th October a symposium is to be held at the Luxembourg Palace in France. It is organised by 3 associations: CIAMS (Coalition Internationale pour l'Abolition de la Maternité de Substitution - International Coalition for the Abolition of Substitute Maternity), CNFF (Conseil National des Femmes Françaises - National Council of French Women) and Stop Surrogacy Now UK. It is titled "Listen to those concerned: the truth about surrogate motherhood - Giving a voice to those who are too often reduced to silence." Four women having undergone surrogate motherhood will come to share their experiences: their suffering and their confiscated maternity. During the symposium, they will answer essential questions: How do they feel about their surrogate motherhood with hindsight? What were the consequences for their health, their psyche, their private life? What is their view of the system nowadays? What lessons do they wish to pass on to us? This novel event is supported by Laurence Rossignol, the socialist senator for Val-de-Marne, and Hélène Bidard, deputy to the Mayor of Paris in charge of Women's rights and a member of the French Communist Party.