Calls to ban surrogacy in Scotland over 'ethical, legal and human rights' concerns

Scotland should consider banning surrogacy amid concerns over its “ethical, legal and human rights implications”, an MSP has said.

Alba MSP Ash Regan has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament, urging ministers to follow other countries by completely banning the practice.

Currently commercial surrogacy, where a woman is paid for being a surrogate, is illegal - however, surrogacy itself is legal, as long as the surrogate is not paid for anything other than reasonable expenses such as travel and treatment costs.

Surrogacy is legal in Scotland, and the rest of the UK and is becoming more popular with each passing year Picture: stock/PA | Press Association

Once the child is born, those intending to become the child’s legal parents must apply for a parental order within six months of the child’s birth and the surrogate, who is the child’s legal parent when the child is born, must also agree to this within six weeks of the birth.

The Law Commission of Scotland has also recommended a number of measures which would see the intended parents becoming the legal parents straight from birth.

Ms Regan said: “Women’s bodies and babies are not commodities.

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“Surrogacy - particularly when unregulated or commercial - raises profound ethical concerns.

“It exploits the most vulnerable, carries serious health risks, and leaves far too many questions unanswered when it comes to the welfare of both mothers and babies.

Ash Regan MSP asked an SNP minister 'are the children of Scotland safe?' in an urgent parliamentary question in the wake of the sentencing of a Glasgow paedophile gang (Picture: Jane Barlow) | Jane Barlow/Press Association

“I have lodged this motion to open a respectful, evidence-based debate on whether Scotland should follow the example of countries like France, Germany, Spain and most recently Italy, who have rightly said no to the commodification of women’s reproductive labour.”

Ms Regan is also hoping to use her motion to call for more long-term research into the health effects of egg donation on both the donors and the children born from this procedure.

This comes after the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland ran a national donor gamete campaign in 2023, which encouraged women to donate their eggs to help parents struggling with infertility.

Ms Regan added: “The recent Scottish Government campaigns offering payment to young women for egg donation - without clear warnings of the health risks - raises serious ethical concerns.

“It’s time we take women’s health and rights seriously in this debate.”