An international coalition has asked the United Nations to officially recognise surrogacy as “a new form of slavery involving women and children.”

The Casablanca group of experts and the French NGO Juristes Pour l’Enfance made the request on the centennial of the 1926 Slavery Convention for consideration at an upcoming Human Rights Council session dedicated to the occasion.

The brief argues that surrogacy reduces the child in utero to an object of disposal, which corresponds to the definition of slavery set forth in the 1926 document, namely, the exercise of the attributes of the right of ownership.

As for the woman carrying the baby, her body is subjected to the will of third parties, which includes control over her diet and medical care as well as, potentially, embryo reduction or abortion, the statement explains.

Several United Nations bodies have already characterized surrogacy as the sale of children and in July 2025, the UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls called for the eradication of all forms of surrogacy and the adoption of a binding international instrument to abolish this practice.