Krzysztof Bronk – Vatican
Practice outpaces law and ethics
The Vatican delegation acknowledged that surrogacy is an urgent issue where, unfortunately, technology and practice have significantly outpaced law and ethics. It is also a rather delicate topic: many people view surrogacy as a solution born out of compassion for those who wish to become parents.
Surrogacy exists only thanks to poverty
The facts, however, are that it is primarily poor women who agree to surrogacy, doing so for purely economic reasons. Cases of wealthy women agreeing to be surrogates are rare. In reality, only poverty allows the surrogacy industry to survive.
Gifts and reimbursement of costs to circumvent the law
The Holy See notes that even in jurisdictions where commercial surrogacy is prohibited, payment is made in the form of gifts or appropriately inflated reimbursements for incurred costs. Some women agree to surrogacy under pressure from family members, or are even forced into it.
Consequences for siblings
The Vatican delegation also drew attention to the collateral costs of this procedure, including separation from one’s own children and families. Women who live with their families until childbirth may face questions from their own children about why mom isn’t keeping this baby?
Children also have their rights
In the statement to the Commission on the Status of Women, attention was also drawn to the harm caused to a child born through surrogacy. “Children have rights and interests that must be respected, starting with the moral right to be conceived in an act of love. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child – the most widely ratified human rights instrument – children also have the right to know their parents and to be cared for by them. The fact that these rights cannot always be realized should not serve as a justification for a practice that deliberately violates them.”
