An international campaign to ban surrogacy received a strong endorsement Friday from the Vatican, with a top official calling for a broad-based alliance to stop the 含羞草研究社渃ommercialization of life含羞草研究社� catering to wealthy would-be parents.
A Vatican-affiliated university hosted a two-day conference promoting an international treaty to outlaw surrogacy, based on the campaigners含羞草研究社� argument that the practice violates U.N. conventions protecting the rights of the child and surrogate mother.
At issue is whether there is a fundamental right to have a child, at any cost, or whether the rights of children trump the desires of potential parents.
The conference, which also drew U.N. human rights representatives and experts, marked an acceleration of a campaign that has found some support in parts of the developing world and western Europe. At the same time, Canada and the United States are known for highly regulated arrangements that draw heterosexual and homosexual couples alike from around the world, while other countries allow surrogacy with fewer rules.
Pope Francis in January called for an , calling it a despicable violation of human dignity that exploits the surrogate mother含羞草研究社檚 financial need. On Thursday, Francis met privately with one of the proponents calling for a universal ban on surrogacy, Olivia Maurel, a 33-year-old mother of three.
Maurel was born in the U.S. in 1991 via surrogacy and attributes a lifetime of mental health issues to the 含羞草研究社渢rauma of abandonment含羞草研究社� she says she experienced at birth. She says she was separated from her biological mother and given to parents who had contracted with an agency in Kentucky after experiencing infertility problems when they tried to have children in their late 40s.
Maurel says she doesn含羞草研究社檛 blame her parents and she acknowledges there are 含羞草研究社渕any happy stories含羞草研究社� of families who use surrogate mothers. But she says that doesn含羞草研究社檛 make the practice ethical or right, even with regulations, since she said she was made to sacrifice 含羞草研究社渇or the desire of adults to have a child.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淭here is no right to have a child,含羞草研究社� Maurel told the conference at the LUMSA university. 含羞草研究社淏ut children do have rights, and we can say surrogacy violates many of these rights.含羞草研究社�
Monsignor Miloslaw Wachowski, undersecretary for relations with states in the Vatican secretariat of state, concurred, saying the practice reduces human procreation to a concept of 含羞草研究社渋ndividual will含羞草研究社� and desire, where the powerful and wealthy prevail.
含羞草研究社淧arents find themselves in the role of being providers of genetic material, while the embryo appears more and more like an object: something to produce 含羞草研究社� not someone, but something,含羞草研究社� he said.
He called for the campaign to ban the practice not to remain in the sphere of the Catholic Church or even faith-based groups, but to transcend traditional ideological and political boundaries.
含羞草研究社淲e shouldn含羞草研究社檛 close ourselves among those who think exactly the same way,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淩ather, we should open up to pragmatic alliances to realize a common goal.含羞草研究社�
The Vatican含羞草研究社檚 overall position, which is expected to be crystalized in a position paper Monday on human dignity, stems from its belief that human life begins at conception and must be given the consequent respect and dignity from that moment on. The Vatican also holds that human life should be created through intercourse between husband and wife, not in a petri dish, and that surrogacy takes in vitro fertilization a step further by 含羞草研究社渃ommercializing含羞草研究社� the resulting embryo.
As the conference was getting underway, Italy含羞草研究社檚 main gay family advocacy group, Rainbow Families, sponsored a pro-surrogacy rally to counter proposals by Italy含羞草研究社檚 hard-right-led government to to try to use surrogates abroad, even in countries where the practice is legal.
含羞草研究社淲e are families, not crimes,含羞草研究社� said banners held by some of the 200 or so participants, many of them gay couples who traveled abroad to have children via surrogate.
A 2004 law already banned surrogacy within Italy. The proposed law would make it illegal in Italy for citizens to engage a surrogate mother in another country, with prison terms of up to three years and fines of up to 1 million euros ($1.15 million) for convictions.
In the U.S., Resolve, the National Infertility Association, which advocates for people experiencing infertility problems, has criticized any calls for a universal ban on surrogacy as harmful and hurtful to the many people experiencing the 含羞草研究社渄isease of infertility.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淩esolve believes that everyone deserves the right to build a family and should have access to all family building options,含羞草研究社� Betsy Campbell, Resolve含羞草研究社檚 chief engagement officer, said in a telephone interview. 含羞草研究社淪urrogacy, and specifically gestational carrier surrogacy, is an option.含羞草研究社�
She said the U.S. regulations, which include separate legal representation for surrogate and the intended parents, and mental health and other evaluations, safeguard all parties in the process.
含羞草研究社淢ost people do not expect to have infertility or to need medical assistance to build their families,含羞草研究社� she said. 含羞草研究社淪o when non-medical people speak about IVF and surrogacy in a negative way, it can be very discouraging and make an already challenging journey all the more challenging.含羞草研究社�
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