MAIN POINTS
1
The Ordo Iuris Institute is part of an international group of organizations supporting the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, which unequivocally indicates the need to abolish the practice of surrogacy worldwide.
2
The report was scheduled to be presented on October 10 before the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.
3
The document states that surrogacy is incompatible with women’s dignity and human rights, and that it treats children as objects lacking personhood.
4
A joint letter calls on states to support the report and to undertake work toward a legal ban on surrogacy, including, among other things, by adopting a binding international convention.
5
Among the signatories of the letter were 205 organizations from 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia, including the Ordo Iuris Institute, Alliance Defending Freedom International, Women’s Declaration International, Nordic Model Now!, and many others. The UN expert officially thanked the organizations for their support.
On October 3, 2025, several dozen non-governmental organizations from around the world, representing diverse cultural and ideological traditions, announced a joint declaration of support for the report prepared by Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls. The document titled „The different manifestations of violence against women and girls in the context of surrogacy” (A/80/158), was to be presented on October 10 before the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly during its 80th session.
The report depicts surrogacy as a practice based on the systemic exploitation of women and the objectification of children. As is emphasized in the report, this phenomenon most often affects women in difficult economic and social circumstances, who are reduced “to solely their reproductive roles.” The report also emphasizes the violation of the fundamental rights of the child, who in practice is treated as the object of a contract and deprived of the protection arising from their dignity and inalienable rights.
Based on these findings, the Special Rapporteur recommends the complete elimination of surrogacy on a global scale. She proposes, among other things, the adoption of a legally binding international instrument that would explicitly prohibit this practice. The report also contains a call to take further action at the international level, including establishing a group of experts or an intergovernmental working group to develop specific legal and policy solutions. The organizations that signed the letter stressed that “[i]n response to these findings, the report recommends the eradication of surrogacy in all its forms and at all levels, including through the adoption of a legally binding international instrument that would prohibit the practice globally.”
The letter of support for this report was signed by a wide array of non-governmental organizations—from Latin America, through Europe and Africa, all the way to Asia: in total 215 organizations from 40 countries as of October 10. The signatories included Women’s Declaration International (Argentina), FINRRAGE (Australia), CIAMS (France), and Nordic Model Now! (United Kingdom), Alliance Vita (France), the Iona Institute (Ireland), Alliance Defending Freedom International (USA), as well as the Ordo Iuris Institute from Poland. The signatories declared a shared commitment to efforts to defend the dignity of women and children and to processes aimed at a global ban on surrogacy.
The signatory organizations called on all UN Member States and observers to unequivocally support the report and to endorse the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations during the interactive dialogue in the Third Committee of the General Assembly. The call also includes an appeal to put the recommendations into practice—both at the national level and as part of international cooperation.
Reem Alsalem officially thanked organizations for their support on her social media.
She thanked the signatories of the letter for supporting the findings and recommendations contained in her report.
Our comment
“The voice of the UN Special Rapporteur is a step toward restoring the proper hierarchy of values in international law. Surrogacy essentially amounts to the objectification of women and to reducing the child to the status of a commodity, and this is contrary to the norms of international law, which protect the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society. The report does not create new law but indicates the need to fulfill existing obligations, namely the protection of human dignity, the rights of the child, and the principle of non-discrimination. It is gratifying to note that such a broad coalition of organizations, including the Ordo Iuris Institute, is speaking with one voice today to protect women and children from the modern form of human trafficking that is surrogacy,” notes Julia Książek of the Ordo Iuris Center for International Law.
Source of cover photo: iStock
