UN Rapporteur Faces Call to Classify Commercial Surrogacy as Modern Slavery

International NGOs have appealed to UN special rapporteur Katarina Schwarz to recognize commercial surrogacy as a contemporary form of slavery, invoking Article 1 of the 1926 Slavery Convention. The coalition, comprising the Casablanca Declaration Group of Experts, Juristes pour l'enfance and the Ordo Iuris Institute, contends that the commissioning and handover of a child reduces the infant to a contractual object, breaching the child’s dignity and legal personhood.

They cite earlier UN findings that surrogacy reinforces patriarchal norms and can amount to child sale, especially when wealthy parties exploit low-income women. While dozens of countries ban the practice outright, others allow altruistic or regulated commercial surrogacy, with the United States offering the most comprehensive legal framework but at high cost. The petition warns that a UN declaration could increase diplomatic pressure on signatories, potentially influencing national legislation and judicial decisions. The UN has not yet responded to the request.