A United Nations report has condemned surrogacy as a practice that 'reduces women and children including girls to mere commodities', as the global industry is projected to grow more than sixfold over the next decade.
The findings come as the worldwide surrogacy industry is on course to grow from $14.95bn (£11.7bn) in 2023 to $99.75bn (£78.4bn) by 2033, an annual growth rate of nearly 21 per cent over the decade.
Report Details Surrogacy's Human Cost as Industry Booms
In a report presented to the UN General Assembly on 10 October 2025, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls Reem Alsalem said surrogacy involved the 'commodification of women and children, stripping them of their equality and dignity and encouraging their exploitation and abuse'.
The report examined the physical, psychological and economic violence faced by surrogate mothers. It recommended stronger international cooperation, improved data collection, and guaranteed equal rights and access to services for children born through surrogacy arrangements.
The Spherical Insights figures point to gestational surrogacy, where the surrogate carries no genetic link to the child, as the dominant driver of the expansion, ahead of traditional surrogacy arrangements.
Rising infertility rates, advances in IVF technology and wider acceptance of non-traditional family structures are all cited as factors behind the growth. Spherical Insights identifies North America and parts of Asia-Pacific as key regional markets, with a growing number of fertility clinics now offering cross-border surrogacy packages to intended parents.
In the UK, surrogacy is legal but strictly regulated. Only expenses can be paid, making commercial surrogacy illegal. This has pushed many British couples to seek surrogates abroad, particularly in the United States and Canada.
Italy and Chile launched a U.N. declaration urging a global ban on surrogacy, calling it exploitative of women and children. #Surrogacy #HumanDignity #ProLife #UN #ChristianPost
— The Christian Post (@ChristianPost) June 24, 2026
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Governments Call Surrogacy a Human Rights Risk
The UN report follows a political declaration launched in Geneva on 22 June, co-hosted by Italy, Chile, Cameroon and the Holy See, calling for an international moratorium on surrogacy as a step toward a legally binding global ban.
Speaking at the launch, Italian Minister for Family, Natality and Equal Opportunities Eugenia Roccella said surrogacy 'has become a global phenomenon, increasingly shaped by international markets, cross-border arrangements, and profound inequalities within and between societies'.
Alsalem also addressed the event, saying the declaration recognised that surrogacy raises 'fundamental concerns relating to human dignity [and] the commodification of women and children'. She warned that fragmented national laws risk pushing harm onto women in more vulnerable jurisdictions.
Felipe Kipreos Palau, Director of Human Rights at Chile's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said divergent national frameworks 'create regulatory gaps that may encourage the transfer of risks and harmful consequences across jurisdictions'.
More than 220 organisations across 40 countries have separately backed a coordinated push against the practice.
Ireland, Canada and Mexico Push Back
Not every state at the table agreed. During the same Human Rights Council session, Ireland's representative, speaking on behalf of 26 EU member states, argued that tighter global restrictions on surrogacy risk 'erasing diverse realities' and would 'reinforce gender stereotypes that contribute to discrimination and violence'.
She told the council that 'pregnancy and parenthood must never be grounds for discrimination'.
Canada's representative raised concerns over a proposed definition of 'mother' put forward in Alsalem's report, saying 'laws and policies must be consistent with international human rights standards including equality, nondiscrimination and inclusivity'.
Mexico's representative pressed further, asking how the report recognised differing experiences of motherhood 'without reinforcing gender stereotypes' and whether it accounted for women of sexual diversity.
🔴 Hague surrogacy talks collapse; stateless babies risk grows
— NewsTongue (@NewsTongueX) July 19, 2026
The Hague Conference on Private International Law suspended a 15-year effort to establish a global surrogacy convention after member states could not agree on legal standards. The breakdown leaves children born to… pic.twitter.com/y79uuBzLwu
Italy, Slovakia, Chile Lead the Push for National Bans
Some countries have moved ahead of the UN declaration. Italy banned surrogacy both domestically and for citizens seeking it abroad in 2024, becoming the first country to do so.
Slovakia adopted a constitutional amendment prohibiting the practice in September 2025.
In January 2026, a parliamentary commission in Chile advanced legislation that would prohibit surrogacy nationally. Together, the three cases suggest momentum is building at national level even as the declaration's backers push for a coordinated international instrument rather than a patchwork of individual bans.
The surrogacy debate sits at the intersection of reproductive rights, international law and a fast-growing commercial industry. As more governments move to restrict or ban the practice while global demand and market value continue to climb, the coming years are likely to see growing friction between national legislation, UN human rights bodies and the fertility industry.
This outcome could directly affect intended parents, surrogates and children born through cross-border arrangements.
