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American surrogacy company to hold info sessions in Brussels
An American company will hold a series of information sessions in Brussels in late January, specifically for couples interested in fulfilling their wish to have a child via a surrogate mother, various Belgian media report. The company, Baby Bloom, is part of a fertility clinic in Las Vegas.
Babybloom offers “safe surrogacy solutions” to "help people realize their dream", reads the website. Because of the controversy around an event of this kind, the company insists it is not a trade fair, but an opportunity to have individualised talks with interested couples.
The company encourages its clients to “raise the bar as high as possible in terms of intelligence, looks and personality," according to its website. The clients are even able to follow the ultrasounds and other appointments of the surrogate mother via Skype.
The whole operation costs at least €80,000, making it a clear case of commercial surrogacy, which is banned in Belgium. "You buy an egg, you 'rent' a woman's womb for nine months, and then you have a child. That is not possible here, nor will it ever be,” says fertility expert Dr Petra De Sutter. "This type of information session should also be banned."
Comments
I would be more worried about any subsequent child being claimed by the USA as a tax payer. Who the hell would inflict US nationality on their child?
Surrogacy (with appropriate safeguards) is perfectly legal in many countries (some states in the USA, UK, South Africa, Australia. Canada, Israel, the Netherlands, Spain, etc.).
The article neglects to mention that Dr Petra De Sutter is also a Flemish Senator with the Green party (so someone in a position of authority). She does not know if surrogacy "will ever be" legal in Belgium (indeed none of us do).
What is clear, though, is that holding information sessions - even on a contentious issue such as surrogacy - are not illegal. Free Speech is guaranteed by the Belgian Constitution.
As a Senator, she has no right to be calling for the banning of a topic she does not agree with. Who is Dr Petra De Sutter to try to deny a basic human right guaranteed to all?
As a transgender politician, she of all people ought to be more considerate of topics which are likely to arouse disparate passions on both sides of a debate.