This week, a government survey on surrogate motherhood was submitted to the Swedish Parliament where it will likely be approved in the near future. The principle rapporteur Eva Wendel Rosenberg presented the conclusions to the Justice Minister, Morgan Johansson.
The report’s conclusions include all practices of surrogacy, no matter if titles such as “commercial” or “altruistic” are employed. Sweden equally plans to implement measures forbidding citizens from having recourse to foreign clinics for surrogacy.
According to Eva Wendel Rosenberg,” the most important reason for not accepting surrogate motherhood in Sweden is the risk that women might be pressurized into becoming surrogates. Indeed, becoming pregnant and giving birth to a child, is a commitment which implies risks.
According to Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Swedish journalist and feminist activist, “this is a revolutionary decision, a real step forward for women’s movement”. This speaker fights against all forms of surrogacy; she is regularly auditioned, for example, recently at the European Parliament and for the Court for International Abolition of Surrogate Motherhood which were held Tuesday February 2, 2016 at the National Assembly in Paris. In an editorial published by The Guardian, the young Swede specifies that “the notion of ‘altruistic’ surrogate motherhood- more than just being an illusion, since it is disconnected with reality, has a very strange ideological basis. As if exploitation only consisted in giving money to the woman. In this case, if she is paid less, is she less exploited?”
She specifies that the « Swedish survey dismisses the argument that so-called “altruistic” surrogacy cases” could be acceptable. “There is no proof, according to the survey, that legalization of so-called “altruistic” surrogate motherhood could eliminate the commercial business of surrogacy. International experience demonstrates the opposite – the citizens in countries such as the United States or Great Britain, where the practice of surrogate mothers is widespread, are among the most numerous foreign sponsors in India and in Nepal. Surrogacy demands that a woman carry the child for nine months, and then give him away.”
An awareness of the seriousness of what is at issue in relation to surrogacy is being confirmed in Europe. No Maternity Traffic, of which Alliance VITA is a partner, has called for a massive rally of European citizens for the universal abolition of surrogacy. To sign the petition: www.nomaternitytraffic.eu
