the most problematic areas and formulate procedural and safety requirements
to ensure protection of the rights of these children. The UN Committee on the
Rights of Child supports the ‘Verona Principles’ as an important contribution to
developing normative guidance in this area.
(iv) Besides, there have been a number of other bilateral, regional and international
researches and discussions on the rights of children born through domestic or
international surrogacy arrangements. However, an international agreement
or treaty that comprehensively addresses the rights of children born through
surrogacy, is still elusive. The UN rights expert, Ms Maud de Boer-Buquicchio28,
presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council in 2018. She stated, inter-alia,
that ‘There is an undeniable, urgent need for surrogacy to be regulated. If nothing
is done, abusive commercial surrogacy networks will continue to move from one
jurisdiction to the other.’
(v) The ‘International Bioethics Committee’ of UNESCO(IBC),29 in its report on
‘ART and parenthood’ of 2019, observes that:
‘Whether States accept or reject surrogacy, in all cases the position
of the child, born with the help of a surrogate, should be regulated.
On this issue, the European Court of Human Rights developed
a doctrine about surrogacy. This doctrine considers that the
principle of the best interests of the child must guide the decisions
about a minor’s registration, even in States where surrogacy is
forbidden’.
It is not that all cases of violation of rights of children born through international
surrogacy arrangements get reported. However, well-reported situations speak plentiful
about the extent of the problem. Many members of the international community
are involved in addressing these issues. However, a comprehensive international
agreement specifically addressing the rights of children born through surrogacy is
yet to be developed and adopted by different countries of the world. This vacuum
existing in the regulation of ISAs is a major factor breaching the rights of children
born through this method.
A lot has been written and discussed about surrogate mothers and commissioning
parents in a surrogacy arrangement. However, the end motive and outcome of the entire
The UN rights expert, Ms Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, former Special Rapporteur (2014-2020) on the
sale and sexual exploitation of children and who presented a report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva plus footnote number 3.
29
The ‘International Bioethics Committee’ of UNESCO (IBC), in para number 171 at page-33 of its
report on ‘ART and parenthood’ of 2019. Link is:
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000367957#:~:text=Paris%2C%2020%20December%20
2019%20Original,technologies%20(ART)%20and%20parenthood%2C
28
Journal of the National Human Rights Commission, Vol. 22, 2023
81