Former French prime minister pushes to legalize 'ethical surrogacy'

Gabriel Attal, the former prime minister of France and current General Secretary of Renaissance Party and president of the Renaissance group in the National Assembly, is calling for so-called "ethical surrogacy" to be legalized.

Key Takeaways:

• Surrogacy is currently illegal in France, though the parents of children born abroad to surrogate mothers are now recognized.

• The Bioethics Law of 1994 outlawed surrogacy, as it violates human dignity, of both the woman serving as a surrogate and the preborn child.

• Attal is calling for his party to push for the legalization of surrogacy.

• President Emmanuel Macron opposes legal surrogacy.

The Details:

Attal recently called for the Renaissance Party, to which both he and Macron belong, to begin working to legalize surrogacy, though Macron continues to openly oppose it. While Attal didn't give a timeline as to when he wants to see it happen, it would need to be decided through the next presidential election, which is scheduled to take place in 2027.

“67% of couples using surrogacy are heterosexual couples: this is primarily a measure to boost the birth rate,” Attal said, adding, "We want to talk about the situations of new families, single mothers, unmarried mothers. No one is concerned about their fate, neither LR nor the far right... We must address the issue of legalizing surrogacy."

Macron, however, has continued to oppose legal surrogacy, saying it "is not compatible with the dignity of women[;] it is a form of commodification of their bodies."

Why It Matters:

Surrogacy has become increasingly culturally acceptable, despite the repercussions it has on surrogate mothers and the babies they carry. Donor-conceived children, and those born through other forms of assisted reproductive technology (ART), have begun speaking out against the harmful practices as they have become adults.

The fertility industry is largely unregulated, leading to widespread abuses that often leave the children conceived at the whims of would-be parents the victims.

A senior United Nations (UN) official recently called for an end to surrogacy, noting that it is exploitative to women — whose bodies are treated as property — and harmful to children. Most surrogates worldwide struggle with poverty, and rent their wombs to wealthy foreigners in an effort to care for their families. These women are at higher risk of numerous complications, including gestational diabetes, hypertension related to pregnancy, and post-birth bleeding complications.

IVF is also associated with higher risks for children, including low birth weight and prematurity.  Separating babies from their birth mothers — whether those mothers are biologically related or not — is known to cause trauma, which may even permanently alter adult brain function.

While separation trauma is also created by adoption, adoption does not intentionally create a child with the explicit intention of separating that child from his or her birth mother. A child born through surrogacy, however, is created for just that reason, and frequently, the child is also robbed of his or her medical history, heritage, and background.

The Bottom Line:

There is no such thing as "ethical surrogacy," and French women and children should continue to be protected from this exploitative practice.