The Spanish government rejects surrogacy and proposes to prevent its management through third countries

Euskaraz irakurri: Espainiako Gobernuak haurdunaldi subrogatua gaitzetsi eta dear nonbaitetik kudeatzea eragozteko atea ireki du

In the coalition government of PSOE and United We Can there is unanimity in the rejection of surrogacy and they have even recalled that, with the amendment of the abortion law, which came into force at the beginning of March, it appears among the forms of violence in the field of women’s sexual and reproductive health. In addition, it now proposes to avoid its management via third countries.

The case of actress Ana Obregón, who became a mother at the age of 68 through surrogacy in Miami, has fueled the political debate about this practice, in which a person or a couple (heterosexual or homosexual) arranges a pregnancy with a woman of a baby . illegal in the Spanish state. However, it is allowed in some states of the United States such as Florida where the actress has gone.

The Association of Spanish Families for Surrogacy They are our children He has demanded “a serene debate” on the practice from the government. In a note, the aforementioned association, which brings together more than 700 families with children conceived through surrogacy, has demanded that the executive handle the analysis of this practice with “rigor, serenity, and common sense,” which, as stated, is “legal in countless countries” and “a path to motherhood for thousands of Spanish families.”

The organization has indicated that it does not analyze the age of individuals who resort to surrogacy, but has pointed out that it “leaves the door open to assess” a possible limitation in this area, “as there is with in vitro fertilization”, in a possible state law regulating this practice. As explained by Pablo Bilbao, spokesman for Gure Umeen Ametsakthe association of Biscay, is enshrined in the laws of some European countries.

The Minister of Finance, Mary Jesus Monteroof the PSOE, has emphasized that they do not agree with this practice, although with regard to the possibility of preventing a child born by surrogacy in other countries from being born in Spain, they noted that each case “in a concrete way needs to be analysed. .

“There is a clear bias against discrimination because of poverty,” stressed the equality minister, Irene Monterofrom United We Can, referring to the cases where the woman who gets pregnant gets paid for it.

The Minister of Territorial Policy and government spokesperson, isabella rodriguezhas labeled surrogacy as “another form of slavery” and has defended that “women’s physical integrity cannot be bought or sold”.

However, the political debate about surrogacy is still open in the PP, although the national leadership, in the hands of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is inclined to open a debate to regulate this practice by demanding that there be “under no circumstances” any kind of indirect or direct economic payment to the surrogate mother. The red line for the PP is the “commodification” which the party leadership considers “awful”.

Judgment of lineage

Spain only allows access to the civil registry for children born by surrogacy with a parentage decree. The government of Pedro Sanchez limited this possibility in 2019 with an instruction from the Justice Department affecting couples who went to countries like Ukraine or Georgia to access this practice, where surrogacy is legal but no parentage judgments are issued.

One of the main destinations is the United States, where surrogacy is allowed in some states and banned or restricted in others (it’s even considered a criminal offense in some). Among the states where it is allowed for straight, gay or single couples Florida, California, Arkansas, Delaware, New Hampshire, Nevada and Illinois.

However, in the United States, the process can be expensive (from about 120,000 eurosaccording to the company Gestlife), which is why many fathers and mothers resort to other countries, sometimes with less legal and health guarantees, but cheaper, such as Mexico (where permitted by law in the states of Tabasco and Sinaloa), Ukraine -at least, until the beginning of the war-, Georgia or Vietnam.

Canada is one of the top rated destinations to access surrogacy, but their laws do not allow payment to the “surrogate” which makes it difficult to find women who want to be surrogate mothers. The parents must pay the costs of the pregnancy.