The government introduced Bill no 2 amending the Civil Code in matters of parentage.1 This bill includes articles on the use of surrogate mothers now recognizing this practice.
Rules must be observed and no remuneration to the surrogate mother is allowed. This change should in no case be minimized, justified as a necessary adaptation of the Civil Code to an existing situation. It is more than a shame, even deplorable, that there is no public consultation as initially planned, because it is, in reality, a substantial modification of the rules of filiation which affect the future of ‘children.
Legalizing the use of surrogate mothers raises ethical dilemmas. These are the conditions for the very existence of a child, which can henceforth be the subject of a “convention”.
It is also about allowing a woman to serve as a means for other people to achieve their project, which goes against the fundamental principle that a human person should never be treated as a means, but always as an end in itself.
Beyond these substantive questions, the framework proposed in the bill raises problems. Here are a few :
- The experience of motherhood
Minister speaks of “surrogate mother”2, but the bill does not. It says: “the woman or the person who gives birth”. Now, when there is birth, there is a mother. In humans, there is not only “gestation”, as in animals, but indeed “pregnancy” and childbirth, an experience of motherhood, a deeply human experience full of meaning. What will we say to children born to surrogate mothers? That in their case, they do not have “mothers”, but that someone gave birth to them? Words bear witness to our values, to our vision of the world. In our Civil Code, the word “mother” must be retained to designate those who give life. Articles about surrogate mothers should bear witness to this reality. - The mother-child dyad
In Quebec, thanks to the combined efforts of the women’s movement and the humanization of childbirth care, the conditions in which women give birth have been improved: demedicalization of care surrounding pregnancy and childbirth; support for mother-child attachment after childbirth and support for breastfeeding. What about the mother-child dyad when the life of the children is planned in a contract with a surrogate mother which usually involves in vitro fertilization, the child is taken away from its mother at birth and breastfeeding is not usually part of the contract? This arrival in the world, planned in this way, deserves reflection. - Know where we come from
If the child wants to know his origins, he can, according to the procedures proposed in the bill, make a request. However, he will often have to find two mothers, since the use of surrogate mothers, as it has developed, fractures motherhood. A woman provides the egg (genetic mother) and a second gate and gives life to the child (surrogate mother). This development is due in large part to the desire to avoid the attachment between surrogate mother and child. The bill provides that the genetic mother and the surrogate mother can refuse to meet the child. The child’s right to know his origins ends there. Why ? This right would be true if the names of genetic and surrogate mothers were recorded on birth certificates. The legislator must consider it. - The health of mothers and children
A series of conditions are proposed to ensure the consent of surrogate mothers, reflecting an implicit recognition of the complexity of the experience. They will have to meet with a professional to receive information, before signing the contract. The content of this meeting should be clarified and include the risks to the health of mother and child. These risks are greater after in vitro fertilization than during spontaneous pregnancies, and little is said about them. Shouldn’t all potential surrogate mothers be well informed of these risks even before committing to requesting couples? - The assisted reproduction industry
It grows like weed. If Quebec says yes, it will align itself with the countries that authorize the practice and leave the group of countries that do not recognize it. This is a major change that opens the door to industry and agencies that exploit the desire for children to make a profit. Will Quebec be able to protect itself to avoid the abuses observed in Canada and elsewhere (for example, disguised payment and progressive marketing)? No guarantees here.
The available knowledge teaches us that if, in some cases, surrogate mothers are known to children and remain in their entourage, this is not at all in the sense that the practice is developing. Without judging surrogate mothers, whose motivations are most often laudable, nor those who desire a child, who are invited to use this mode of procreation called a “solution”, our society must consider the consequences, both short-term and long-term for the child, the largely neglected in the debates, and to answer the following two questions: do we accept that it is foreseen, even before their conception, that some of our children be separated at birth from the one who bore them and gave them life? Do we accept that they have the burden of finding her, if they wish, and can only do so with her consent?
Mr. Minister of Justice, before changing the rules of filiation in this way, why not allow the people of Quebec to take the time to discuss it as had been announced?
1. A parliamentary committee will be held from November 30 to December 3.