UN calls for ban on all forms of surrogacy

Countries should move towards banning all forms of surrogacy, a new UN report has said.1The UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem al Salem, called for a ban on the grounds of the “exploitation and violence against women and girls” that characterises surrogacy arrangements, as well as health risks to the mother and baby.Al Salem will present the report to the UN General Assembly in October 2025. It will call for the 193 UN member states to “take steps towards eradicating surrogacy in all its forms.” Pending its abolition, states should adopt a legal and policy framework for surrogacy that is modelled on the Nordic model for prostitution and includes penalties for commissioning parents and surrogacy agencies alongside decriminalisation and exit support strategies for surrogate mothers.The report cites higher rates of caesarean section, gestational diabetes, hypertension, preeclampsia, and placenta previa in surrogate births, and lower birth weights…