Parallel Event on Legal-Ethical Challenges to Surrogacy: Rights of Ukrainian Women and Children

The panel included representatives of the International Coalition for the Abolition of Surrogacy (CIAMS), the Public Council under the Parliamentary Inter-faction Equal Opportunities Caucus МФО “Рівні можливості” у ВРУ, Розвиток демократії / Democracy Development, European Network of Migrant Women (ENoMW).

The discussion was moderated by Kateryna Dashevska, Additional Representative from WFUWO at the UN in Geneva, co-founder and second VP of the Ukrainian Women in Switzerland association, with comments from Dr.Martha Kebalo, the WFUWO Main representative to UN ECOSOC in New York. There was unanimity on the definition of surrogacy as a gender-based violence specifically affecting women in that it carries great risks to the health and life of a surrogate mother. The participants agreed on the need for comprehensive studies about what is known and yet unknown about the effects of surrogacy in the short-term, but also agreed that anti-surrogacy legislation need not wait for better statistics on the extent of the problem and the concerns it raises.

The debate was organized as part of the NGO FORUM of the 67th session of the UN CSW which provides a platform for the voices and leadership of feminists and women’s rights organizations within the United Nations community.