Florida AG: Surrogacy 'constitutes modern-day slavery'

According to the Tampa Bay Times, a Florida judge has suggested that surrogacy may be unconstitutional, and, along with the Florida attorney general, has argued that if preborn children are granted personhood, surrogacy contracts that treat them as property would be in violation of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.

Key Takeaways:

• In 2025, Judge Marion Weiss approved early parental rights to two men who had commissioned a baby being carried by a surrogate mother in Florida.

• While the judge ruled in the men's favor, he also wrote in his opinion that surrogacy could be likened to slavery.

• Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier decided to intervene in the case, saying that surrogacy companies make money of the sales of children.

The Details:

In December 2024, two men in France signed a surrogacy contract with a woman in Florida. By August 2025, as her due date approached, they were petitioning a court to access early parental rights — while the baby was still in the womb, rather than at birth.

That request was granted; however, in his opinion, Judge Marlon Weiss signaled that he believed surrogacy could be unconstitutional. As the Tampa Bay Times reported, "His ruling holds that if unborn children are entitled to personhood — which he implies is correct, citing legal articles in favor of that view — those children cannot be subject to an ownership contract."

Weiss wrote that "if a preborn living human being is entitled to legal personhood, it goes without saying that such persons cannot be subject to a contractual bartering or ownership."

In November the court was informed of the baby's birth, and, according to the Tampa Bay Times, despite the case being uncontested, that's when Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier stepped in to intervene.

His office is allegedly arguing that surrogacy is a form of slavery and that it violates the 13th Amendment because it treats children as property.

In a statement, Isabel Kilman, the deputy press secretary for the attorney general's office, said,

"The Attorney General is concerned about any case where a surrogacy company profits off the sale of children; it constitutes modern-day slavery, interferes with a mom's parental rights, and the rights of the child. We also have major security and sovereignty concerns where foreign citizens — including Chinese nationals — come to purchase American children.

Furthermore, there are cases of registered sex offenders purchasing children through these alternative means. We've seen examples of serious child sexual abuse in other states, which is not a risk we should be willing to take in Florida."

The case is ongoing and, therefore, details are unavailable. However, Katie Jay, an appellate and adoption attorney, is privy to the state's arguments, and told the Tampa Bay Times, that Uthmeier has not raised concerns about the men's ability to parent.

The Bottom Line:

If personhood were to be established for preborn babies in Florida, reports say it could mean lead to legal changes including further restrictions on abortion and surrogacy.