Bioethicist slams women's rights groups for condemning surrogacy

A well-known and controversial bioethicist expressed shock and dismay that women's rights groups largely oppose surrogacy, while he feels it must remain legal and accessible.

Key Takeaways:

• Arthur Caplan, head of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, wrote an op-ed expressing dismay that women's rights groups are increasingly opposing surrogacy.

• Surrogacy has been heavily and widely criticized in recent years for its exploitative nature.

The Details:

In a Stat News op-ed, Arthur Caplan expressed horror that every one of the women's rights groups with whom he met in an online Zoom conference opposed surrogacy.

"Every single speaker condemned the practice as exploitative, coercive, and inconsistent with the view that the birth mother is the 'real' mother of every baby," he said. "I later found out more than 250 women’s organizations from 18 countries have called for a total ban on surrogacy — even altruistic surrogacy, when a sister, family member, or close friend assists for free." 

He further bemoaned that surrogacy is under attack from "an unlikely but powerful alliance between religious groups, some members of the Make America Healthy Again movement, and feminists," complaining about how this could affect people struggling with infertility.

Caplan then moved on to call children a right to which adults are entitled (emphasis added):

Surrogates can be either altruistic or commercial, where intended parents find women willing to bear their child for payment. Altruistic surrogacy is ethically noble and surely ought not be prohibited anywhere in the world. 

Commercial surrogacy primarily benefits wealthy people who can afford to pay a surrogate, and private clinics ready to profit handsomely.

Still, those implementing or calling for bans don’t acknowledge a key ethical value — the right to have a genetically related child. 

While Caplan does acknowledge there have been ethical issues with surrogacy around the world, he blames it on a lack of regulation. Renting a woman's body, for Caplan, isn't the problem; it's that it isn't being done in the "right" way. And the main reason he believes surrogacy should be regulated is so that it can remain legal.

"If minimal mandatory regulation is not established throughout the U.S. and internationally, access to all forms of surrogacy likely will soon become severely restricted or outlawed," he said. "That would be a tragedy for many people seeking to become loving parents."

SurrogacyConcern

@SurrogConcern

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Imagine writing this article and thinking you are a decent man. Arguing in favour of commercial surrogacy. There’s a take that’ll age well. The author’s job? Head of the Division of Medical Ethics at @nyuniversity @nyugrossman statnews.com/2025/10/20/sur… @statnews

6:14 AM · Oct 21, 2025

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Why It Matters:

There have been widespread abuses in the fertility industry around the globe, including in the realm of surrogacy. These abuses have become so common that a senior United Nations official has even called for an end to surrogacy. As Caplan admitted himself, surrogate mothers often live in poverty, choosing to become surrogates for wealthy foreigners solely so they can better provide for their families.

What Caplan does not acknowledge is that surrogate mothers are at a higher risk for numerous complications, including gestational diabetes, hypertension related to pregnancy, and post-birth bleeding complications.

Surrogacy also places children at risk, as IVF in and of itself is associated with higher risks for children, including low birth weight and prematurity. Separating babies from their birth mothers, biologically related or not, is also known to cause trauma, and can even be known to permanently alter adult brain function.

SurrogacyConcern

@SurrogConcern

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Replying to @SurrogConcern

Oddly @ArthurCaplan doesn’t once focus on the needs & rights of baby - who wants only their birth mother. He wrongly says there’s a right to have a genetic child. There is not. He also doesn’t seem to know surrogacy is 3x higher risk for sepsis, pre-eclampsia & pp haemorrhage.

6:14 AM · Oct 21, 2025

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The Bottom Line:

Whether Caplan admits it or not, surrogacy is inherently exploitative.

As Surrogacy Concern tweeted:

"You can’t safely regulate surrogacy, nor ensure no coercion, pressure, trafficking. It’s always abuse of the child. It’s always exploitation of women. And we live in a country with a so called 'altruistic' surrogacy model. It’s nothing of the kind.

Strangers matched by agencies, 'expenses' averaging £20k+ per pregnancy, mothers often not seeing their child again. Regret, coercion, pressure commonplace. Stop surrogacy now."