The practice of surrogacy violates the dignity and rights of both women and children, while tearing at family bonds, said the Vatican’s top diplomat to the United Nations. Source: OSV News.
Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia – the Holy See’s permanent observer to the UN, and recently named as papal nuncio to the United States – shared his thoughts during a March 12 side event amid the multinational forum’s 70th commission on the status of women.
The side event, “Protecting Women and Children: Combating Violence and Exploitation in Surrogacy,” was organised by the Holy See and Italy, in partnership with Turkey, Paraguay and the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls.
Catholic teaching, expressed in the 1987 instruction Donum Vitae, holds that surrogacy is contrary to both the unity of marriage and the dignity of human procreation, depriving the child of fundamental rights to be born and raised by biological parents, while objectifying women and eroding familial ties.
In his statement, Archbishop Caccia described the issue of surrogacy as “urgent,” noting that “technology and practice” have “run laps around the law and ethics”.
Archbishop Caccia also stressed that surrogacy is a “quite sensitive” issue, with many viewing it as a “compassionate solution for those wishing to be parents”.
But he cautioned, “the whole context must be taken into account in assessing whether this practice is compatible with respect for the dignity and rights of women and children.”
The demand for surrogacy-born children “already exceeds supply”, the archbishop noted.
But he observed that many women opt to become surrogates due to financial need, bearing children for wealthy clients – a dynamic that is not “happenstance.”
He noted that in some cases women face coercion, even from family members, to become surrogates, with impoverished women especially likely to lack access to legal and medical resources to counter such pressures.
“One must question whether the surrogacy industry could survive if poverty were eradicated,” he said, noting that women afforded “social protection, education, and economic opportunity” would likely forego becoming surrogates.
Archbishop Caccia concluded his address by saying the Holy See was “heartened” by the UN side event and hoped it would lead toward ending surrogacy in all its forms and at all levels to protect women and children from exploitation and violence.”
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Archbishop Caccia at UN: Surrogacy violates rights, dignity of both women and children (By Gina Christian, OSV News)
