Santiago de Chile. On 9 January this year, Pope Leo XIV strongly denounced surrogacy. In an address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, he said the practice turns pregnancy into a negotiable service and undermines the dignity of mother and child.
Surrogacy is criticised by many as a particularly cruel form of human trafficking. In one country, the pope’s words now appear to have had a tangible effect. Chile’s Chamber of Deputies has recently begun work on legislation intended to prohibit and penalise the practice.
Impact of the pope’s words in Chile
Chile’s family affairs committee approved the draft bill unanimously by nine votes. Support came from across the political spectrum and marked a rare moment of broad agreement on a morally sensitive issue. Supporters of the legislation argue that surrogacy requires clear legal boundaries. Commercial interests, they say, expose women and children to a heightened risk of exploitation. The law would criminalise not only surrogacy agreements themselves but also their mediation, promotion, organisation and marketing. Violations could be punished with prison sentences and fines. This would apply in particular in cases where the vulnerability of women is exploited.
The draft also contains preventive measures in the areas of healthcare and adoption. The transfer of egg cells for reproductive purposes linked to surrogacy would be prohibited. In addition, eligibility for adoption would be significantly restricted for individuals or couples who have entered into surrogacy agreements.
The legislation must now pass through both chambers of the Chilean parliament – the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). Only if it passes both can the ban become law.
International observers have welcomed the development. The Casablanca expert group for the global abolition of surrogacy praised the cross-party vote in Chile and described it as a decisive step towards prohibiting the practice.
Severe harm to children
During the debate over the legislation, supporters have argued that surrogacy deliberately provides for the separation of a child from its mother in advance, which could cause serious harm. A human being, they say, becomes the result of an agreement rather than the recipient of protection. The draft bill also raises concerns about the child’s identity, warning that surrogacy may create confusion about motherhood and fatherhood and undermine the natural bond between mother and newborn.
Reproductive tourism is also described as a new form of exploitation. The human body and its parts, the proposal argues, must not become objects of contractual arrangements. To underline this point, the draft draws a parallel with the strict restrictions governing organ donation and emphasises that children must not be treated as transferable goods.
Chile would thus become the first – and for the time being the only – country in Latin America to ban surrogacy. It could serve as a model for the entire continent. In particular, the business is currently flourishing in Mexico and Colombia as a low-cost market. Poverty in those countries, combined with weak rule of law and corruption, has created fertile ground for the dirty trade in children.