Justice minister Annelies Verlinden promises a legal framework on surrogacy after ‘pano’ report
© Belga
Minister of Justice Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) has confirmed in ‘The morning’ on Radio 1 that clear legal rules will be drawn up around surrogacy. That legal framework, which is also provided for in the coalition agreement, must help put an end to the existing surrogacy problems that were also shown on Wednesday in the report of ‘Pano’.
‘Pano’ exposed the lasting problems with surrogacy in our country on Wednesday. For example, wish parents who appeal to a surrogate mother in Belgium on an unequal treatment when they want their parenthood to be recognized. Due to the lack of a legal framework, problems can also arise when desire parents want to have their parenthood recognized. The Flemish Association of Cities and Municipalities (VVSG) also insists on a clear framework, so that « the difference in approach between municipalities has an end ».
According to Minister of Justice Annelies Verlinden (CD&V), it has been agreed in the coalition agreement that there will be a legal framework for altruistic high -tech surrogacy. That means, among other things, that a surrogate mother helps to realize someone’s desire for children from a kind of charity and not from a commercial consideration. There can be no commercial surrogacy, « because we think the human body cannot be a product, » says Verlinden.
According to the CD&V minister, the framework still has to be worked out, but it is already the intention to work with an agreement between the wish parents, the surrogate mother and the fertility center that supervises the procedure. « What we do not want is that people make their bodies available for very high amounts. What we will do is make agreements in the agreement between the parties involved and the fertility center about a number of medical costs associated with pregnancy and completing the procedure, » said Verlinden in the morning.
The CD&V minister wants to work « as quickly as possible » on a legal framework, but because it concerns such a fundamental issue, it will also ask for a « thorough parliamentary debate ».
