Surrogacy Contracts and International Human Rights Law

This paper analyses human rights-related concerns which arise when individuals enter into surrogacy contracts with each other. As is well known, surrogacy is a peculiar reproductive technique involving carrying and delivering a child by a surrogate mother on behalf of other intended parents. This method is forbidden in many European countries, because it could facilitate child trafficking and women’s exploitation. These risks are quite evident by the reading of sample surrogacy contracts, which usually contain detailed provisions regulating rights of the intended parents and duties of the surrogate. These clauses are likely to seriously impair the dignity, life and health of the surrogate, the children and the unborn. From an international human rights perspective, these kinds of provisions affect the human rights of women and children, established by several international conventions. This article will outline human rights issues emerging during the negotiation and enforcement of surrogacy contracts, and it will describe the achievements of the international harmonization process to suggest the need for further attention to human rights-related risks involved in surrogacy.