Women’s Platform for Action International (WoPAI), together with the International Coalition for the Abolition of Surrogate Motherhood (ICASM), has issued a letter to all Member States of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) expressing serious concerns about the institution’s ongoing work toward an international framework that would legalize surrogacy.
While the HCCH claims to be pursuing legal certainty for children and families, the process has raised profound ethical, democratic, and human rights issues against women.
WoPAI and ICASM warn that the current direction of the discussions risks normalising surrogacy, a practice that the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem, recently identified as a “form of modern slavery” linked to exploitation and commodification of women’s bodies, while also being a harm to children.
In the letter, WoPAI and ICASM highlight three key concerns:
- A biased and exclusionary process:
Since 2013, the HCCH has failed to consult women’s rights organisations, people born through surrogacy, or surrogate mothers. Meanwhile, the voices of clinics, intermediaries, and intended parents have dominated the agenda. - Contradictions with international human rights standards:
The proposals being discussed are violates existing international conventions, including the 1993 Hague Adoption Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which oppose the commercialisation of children and uphold the right to know one’s origins. - Threats to national sovereignty:
Many countries prohibit surrogacy, yet the HCCH’s work could pressure states into recognising foreign surrogacy arrangements, undermining democratic decision-making and national legislation.
On behalf of women’s and children’s rights, WoPAI and ICASM call for:
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An immediate suspension of the HCCH surrogacy project until a transparent and inclusive consultation is carried out
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A guarantee of public transparency of state positions and voting
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The upholding of international conventions that prohibit the commodification of human beings
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The rejection of any attempt to legitimise surrogacy at the international level
The organisations underscore that the HCCH now faces a historic responsibility: not to become a tool of an industry that violates human dignity.
Read the full letter here.
