For much of the past decade, the global expansion of the surrogacy industry has proceeded largely unchecked, insulated from serious scrutiny by carefully curated narratives of mutual benefit and altruistic intent. That is finally changing: governments, international bodies and public opinion alike are increasingly awake to the grave moral and practical dangers the practice entails.
This shift found its most consequential expression yet last week, when a coalition of states launched a political declaration calling for an international moratorium on surrogacy and affirmed their commitment to working towards its global abolition. For the first time, a coordinated intergovernmental voice is articulating what a growing body of evidence and human rights analysis indicates: that surrogacy, in all its forms, is irreconcilable with human dignity.
