Government should emulate France and Germany by prohibiting surrogacy

Press release from The Iona Institute

The surrogacy case that was before the Supreme Court shows how surrogacy itself creates an automatic ambiguity about who the mother of a child is. It is why countries such as France and Germany prohibit surrogacy altogether and Ireland should follow suit.

Commenting on the case, Iona Institute Director, David Quinn said: “Surrogacy splits motherhood in two. A child who is born of a surrogate mother will have two mothers, the birth mother and the genetic mother. Both women have a valid claim to be the mother of the child.”

He continued: “Surrogacy also makes pregnancy and the baby the object of a contract, whether the surrogacy contract is commercial or non-commercial, written or verbal. The surrogate agrees to carry a baby for nine months and at the end of that time hand the baby over to the commissioning adults. Pregnancy and babies should never be the object of a contract.”

He concluded: “It is for these and other reasons that countries like Germany and France prohibit surrogacy altogether and we should follow their example”.

ENDS