The Multiple Faces of Surrogacy: Should We Accept the Current Legal Chaos or Seek an Acceptable Solution?

Abstract

Reopening the debate on surrogate motherhood, the author presents the legal situation in our country. At the moment the positions of judges and public administrators collide; As consequences of these disparate criteria, citizens are in the position of going abroad to secure offspring through surrogate motherhood, to subsequently register these children as their own, in open contradiction with the law in force. This article addresses several positions on this issue in our country: Spanish Fertility Society, proposition for law by the Parliamentary Group Citizens and the Bioethics Committee of Spain, (of which the author includes his own particular vote, as a member of this Committee). Finally, the author proposes two solutions: 1st. Ensure that the current legal framework is respected; 2nd. A reform of our legislation in order to admit the use of surrogate motherhood in some cases, because it also represents positive values, such as solidarity and altruism.