Reem Alsalem has published a new report calling for states to move towards the total prohibition of surrogacy in all forms, while also raising significant concerns about the practice of egg donation.

Ms Alsalem will formally present her report to the UN General Assembly in mid-October, but her report has been made available in advance.

The report made a number of findings and recommendations relating both to surrogacy and egg donation. The consultation which underpinned the report received 120 submissions from around the world, including from women’s rights groups in the UK, and included online consultation sessions with 78 stakeholders, including surrogate mothers.

The report states that, in 2023, the global surrogacy market was valued at $14.95 billion and is projected to reach $99.75 billion by 2033. Surrogate mothers often receive only a small fraction of the overall payment made by commissioning parents, with the majority of the fee going to intermediaries or surrogacy agencies.

Unlike in adoption, where parental assessment is recognised as an essential child protection measure, very few, if any, background checks are carried out on commissioning parents. Instead, the primary requirement placed on commissioning parents is the financial capacity to pay a substantial sum for the surrogacy procedure.

Globally, most surrogate mothers come from lower-income backgrounds and have less social status compared with the commissioning parents. Many surrogate mothers lack access to effective legal remedies or advocacy mechanisms.

The report concludes: “The practice of surrogacy is characterized by exploitation and violence against women and children, including girls. It reinforces patriarchal norms by commodifying and objectifying women’s bodies and exposing surrogate mothers and children to serious human rights violations.” 

Ms Alsalem recommends that member states and other relevant stakeholders:

1. At the international level, take steps towards eradicating surrogacy in all its forms.
2. Work towards adopting an international legally binding instrument prohibiting all forms of surrogacy;
3. Adopt a legal and policy framework for surrogacy that is modelled on the Nordic model for prostitution and includes pillars for penalising buyers, clinics and agencies to end the demand for surrogacy; decriminalising surrogate mothers; providing exit support strategies for surrogate mothers. Consequently, the advertising of surrogacy services and agencies must be prohibited.

Helen Gibson, founder of Surrogacy Concern, said: “We are delighted to see the United Nations commission this report and that the UN Special Rapporteur has demanded a global ban on surrogacy. Surrogacy is exploitative, unethical and cruel to the child who bonds with their mother in utero, irrespective of egg used in the pregnancy. 

“Surrogate pregnancies are 3x higher risk for severe pregnancy complications including sepsis, pre-eclampsia and postpartum haemorrhage, with further studies revealing surrogate mothers are at higher risk for mental health issues post-birth. Surrogacy parental orders applied for in the British courts are soaring in number, and the majority are now for children who are born abroad in commercial surrogacy arrangements which are not legal here: this is a loophole which must close. We urge the British government to take up the UN’s recommendation, and ban surrogacy for Britons travelling abroad, and at home.”