Faced with the public authorities’ refusal to act in the fight against foreign agencies selling contracts of surrogacy on our territory, a jurists’ association announced on February 22, 2016 they would file a civil case.
Despite surrogacy being illegal in France, foreign agencies regularly arrive on our soil proposing a set of services to people or couples wishing to acquire a child. These services include contacting surrogate mothers abroad, purchasing ovocytes, organizing the transfer of gametes, managing contracts and administrative procedures, repatriating the baby, payments, etc.
In October 2014, the French association Jurists for childhood filed a complaint for infringing on mediation aimed at surrogacy against the American company Circle Surrogacy, based on known facts and liable for one year of detention, and a 15,000 € fine, according to article 227-12 of the penal code.
The complaint was nevertheless dismissed, the association announced via its’ press release on February 22, 2016 : « While the Senate Law Commission has just turned in a report in favor of strengthening criminal punishment for surrogacy activities, and invites France to negotiate with countries practicing surrogacy in order to forbid French people from having recourse to this practice, Jurists for Childhood puts its confidence in justice which cannot disregard French law, allowing foreign companies sell door-to-door to potential French customers on our territory”.
That is why the association has decided to pursue its initiatives by acting jointly with the public prosecutor.
Alliance VITA is a partner of the association No Maternity Traffic which has issued an appeal for the universal abolition of surrogacy, a disgraceful practice of marketing a woman’s body and the commodification of unborn children. They call for signing an online petition for abolishing surrogacy.
