The European Parliament officially condemns surrogacy, which is a major step forward in protecting women and children. The approach of the European Union and the UN confirms that surrogacy is not a social advancement but a serious human rights violation that is contrary to justice, gender equality and human dignity.
The Casablanca Expert Group on the Global Elimination of Surrogacy* welcomes the resolution adopted by the European Parliament through the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), which condemns surrogacy as a practice based on exploitation, economic coercion and the vulnerability of women (see the resolution HERE, especially paragraph 14). The resolution calls on the European Union to take concrete measures to end all forms of surrogacy.
This position is based on the Parliament’s earlier resolutions, notably the 2015 and 2017 resolutions, in which Parliament had already affirmed that surrogacy is not a reproductive right and constitutes a serious violation of the dignity of women and children.
The resolution is far from a benevolent act; rather, it represents a globalized market for surrogacy, projected to exceed 200 billion US dollars by 2034, and which is based on women’s economic vulnerability, the forced separation of mother and child, and the contractual commodification of human life.
Speaking on behalf of the Casablanca expert group, Olivia Maurel says: “This resolution is a powerful message to Europe and the world: a woman’s body and the mother-child relationship are not negotiable. It protects the most vulnerable women from economic exploitation, protects children from being turned into commodities, and reaffirms that motherhood is a biological and emotional right, not a contractual variable.”
The resolution emphasises several key points:
• Surrogacy is built on asymmetries of power and women’s economic vulnerability;
• The child becomes more an object of a contract than a subject of rights;
• The practice fuels a global industry worth billions that operates without a universal ethical framework.
In this context, the resolution reaffirms the fundamental principle of non-commercialisation of the human body, which is central in European and international law, and strengthens the protection of the bond between mother and child, which is important for both physical and mental health.
The text now serves as an interpretative framework for the European directive (EL 2024/1712) on combating trafficking in human beings, which explicitly refers to the “exploitation of surrogacy” as a form of reproductive exploitation.
The directive requires Member States to recognise and punish all forms of exploitation related to human reproduction, thereby providing a clear legal basis for combating surrogacy in the European Union.
This could guide future legislative measures, including:
• A ban on all forms of surrogacy;
• A ban on advertising, agencies and intermediaries;
• Avoiding circumvention by resorting to third countries.
The resolution is in line with a growing global movement, reinforced by the report published on 14 July 2025 by the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalemi (protocol A/HRC/60/45).
The report calls on States to recognise surrogacy as a form of reproductive violence and to work towards an international instrument aimed at eliminating all forms of surrogacy, including so-called altruistic models.
Read more: Declaration of Casablanca for the universal abolition of surrogacy – Home / Accueil
*The Casablanca Declaration creates and disseminates international, multidisciplinary expertise to inform public sector decision-makers, specialists and the public about the realities of surrogacy.