Documentary seemingly shows illegal surrogacy trade in France

It looks like an ordinary trade fair: there are stands, billboards, tariff lists and catalogues for visitors. “Except that, they don’t sell cars or furniture here; they sell babies”, the documentary says. The 10-minute-long video was recently published by the political organisation ‘La Manif Pour Tous’ (Protest for all). Last year, people from this organisation went to this fair with a hidden camera. There, they were approached by people who seemed eager to help them get a surrogacy child.

In one of the video clips filmed on location with a hidden camera, a saleswoman can be heard explaining how the cost of $150,000 for surrogacy in the USA is made up and how she offers the client to select the surrogate mother from a local catalogue. Another saleswoman is heard saying, “Surrogate mothers are the ovens for your babies. They don’t want their baby. What they want is the money to make your baby.”

Another local exhibitor is offering the putative client the addresses of lawyers in France who will accompany the couple on their journey to surrogacy, circumventing French law. In another excerpt, the interlocutor whispers: “Even if you don’t like Emmanuel Macron, it doesn’t matter: choose him because he helps us a lot with surrogacy.”

Punishable

French law currently prohibits surrogacy on French territory, although it is difficult to prohibit ordering a surrogacy in a country where it is legal. However, according to Ludovine de la Rochère, chairwoman of the “Manif pour tous”, French law prohibits intervening between a potential surrogate mother and people who want a child. Mediation and attempted mediation are punishable by law.

De la Rochère explained to the online news website Atlantico that the association appealed to the French government and to the mayor of the 17th arrondissement of Paris, where the fair is taking place - without success. “Their response, and in particular that of Olivier Véran (who was France’s Health minister until recently), was that it was a private event, that he had no opinion and that it was up to justice to speak. However, they know very well how to cry foul when they want to, private event or not.”

The documentary was published in the run-up to the 2022 edition of the fair. Although the Désir d’enfent website announces that surrogacy will not be present in this year’s edition, De La Rochère is still verifying that. According to her, one of the partners is a Cypriot agency offering surrogacy.