Surrogacy in Mexico is largely unregulated, sparking ethical debates over exploitation and neo-colonisation, while some argue it offers financial freedom and a path to parenthood for those with no other options.
The Rise of Surrogacy in Mexico
Diogo Amaro met his future husband, Loup, in Paris and from the first date, he made one thing clear: he wanted to have children. 'Right off the bat, I was like: If I’m going to be in a relationship with somebody, I really want to build a family,' he said. 'That’s important to me, so please tell me if you want to walk.' But Loup didn’t walk – in fact, the couple moved to New York together a few months later and after five years they were married in a ceremony back in Paris.
Surrogacy is banned in France, as well as in Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. In the UK, surrogacy can only happen on altruistic terms; paying a surrogate is illegal, but intended parents are permitted to cover expenses. The rules in Amaro’s native Brazil were restrictive and complicated, and the United States was prohibitively expensive. Instead, like an increasing number of Europeans from countries with surrogacy bans, Amaro and his husband chose Mexico, where the practice is widespread and largely unregulated. Only two states have banned it and another three have regulations governing the practice.
Lack of Regulation and Concerns Over Exploitation
Because it is not regulated at a federal level, there are no reliable numbers for how many surrogate pregnancies take place in Mexico. This lack of regulation can also become deeply problematic for those involved, according to advocates. 'The current model – characterised by uneven or nonexistent regulation – does not offer sufficient guarantees for pregnant people,' said Verónica Esparza, from Mexican reproductive rights group GIRE. 'Surrogacy agreements are frequently carried out in contexts of cultural, economic and social inequality.'
Keith López Nares is a professor at the University of the Valley of Mexico and co-author of a 2024 study on the practice of surrogacy in Tabasco, one of the only states where the practice is regulated. The study found that surrogacy was 'a patriarchal practice of reproductive exploitation that affects the most vulnerable women living in poverty, leading them to rent their wombs as a survival strategy. This situation of economic vulnerability is exploited by the international and national markets as an extractive practice justified by the argument that women ‘freely’ decide to sign the surrogacy contract.'
Coercion and Neo-Colonisation
According to López Nares, some poor women in Tabasco were coerced by their husbands into undergoing surrogacy multiple times. In some cases, husbands took over the surrogacy process outside the clinic or agency structure. 'It became a personal business: instead of being under the strict orders of a clinic’s instructions, they would be directly able to organise, manage and control the resources obtained from the exploitation of their wives’ bodies.' As far as the business involving foreigners, López Nares said it was a 'form of neo-colonisation of women’s bodies'. 'You take children from Mexico, and then you don’t know what happens to them. I mean, nobody, nobody demands any accountability regarding the whereabouts and wellbeing of these children.'
GIRE has also documented numerous irregularities in Mexico, including contracts with vague or ambiguous clauses that left women vulnerable, as well as 'problems for the legal registry of children born under this agreement, which affects their right to an identity'.
Calls for Regulation vs. Prohibition
But while some feminist groups in Mexico have called for the prohibition of surrogacy, the issue remains under debate, with many also feeling that greater regulation is the way forward. 'Far from eradicating the practice, prohibition tends to push it underground, increasing the risks of abuse,' said Esparza. Oriana López Uribe, co-director of feminist organisation Hilar Talentos, said that, as with sex work, women should be allowed to choose what they want to do with their own bodies. 'The conditions of inequality in which we live aren’t going to change just because a practice is prohibited. On the contrary, we are reducing the possibilities that [women] have of obtaining an income.'
Positive Experiences Amidst Debate
And while many argue exploitation is widespread in Mexico, others insist not all surrogacies are exploitative. Amaro says he and his husband were aware of 'the horrible things that happen to surrogates' in Mexico, but once they started talking to other parents who had used the same clinic as them, and who had had 'delightful experiences' with their surrogates, their fears were assuaged. 'It was something that worried us a little bit in the beginning but very quickly it became much less relevant,' he said.
The clinic gave them a catalogue 'with different profiles of egg donors, with different phenotypes primarily from Latin America'. They chose a young woman from Colombia who the couple felt resembled them physically. They met their surrogate when they went to sign the surrogacy agreement before a notary, and kept in touch throughout the pregnancy. When their daughter, Gisele, was born, Loup was in the delivery room and both men spent the night in the maternity ward. After two months in Mexico, the couple returned to France, but are still in contact with the surrogate. 'I send her pictures of Gisele whenever I send pictures to my grandmother every week or two,' Amaro said. 'She’s a great person, and we’re really in touch.'
