The French newspaper interviews Franco Antonio Zenna, partner at the international law firm Intraius, and they discuss current concerns related to surrogacy.
Valérie Demon, Madrid correspondent for the French newspaper La Croix, interviewed Franco Antonio Zenna, partner and lawyer at Intraius, about surrogacy in Spain. You can access the information at [link to interview]. original source here, and below is its translation into Spanish which we share on our blog.
Spain tries to curb the use of surrogacy abroad
Many Spanish families travel to Ukraine to circumvent the ban on having children through surrogacy in their country. The government wants to stop this practice by making it more difficult to register babies at the consulate's civil registry, as has been the case in Ukraine.
«We’ve been left helpless,» say the Spanish families, with their babies in strollers, outside the consulate in Kyiv, Ukraine. The image has been circulating on Spanish television in recent days. Worried, these families don’t understand the recent decisions by the Spanish government that have left them uncertain about registering their babies, born to surrogate mothers, at the Spanish civil registry through the consulate. While legal in Ukraine for heterosexual couples who cannot have children, this practice is illegal in Spain.
A process blocked on February 13
For many years, parents could register these children in the Spanish registry at the consulate. "Spain always provided a solution," says Franco Antonio Zenna, a lawyer at Intraius specializing in this area. Thanks to a DNA test sent to certified laboratories in Spain, the consulate registered the child based on paternal affiliation. Once back in Spain, the father's partner had to adopt the child.
But the process stalled on February 13 when the Spanish consulate in Kyiv refused to register several children. Two days later, the Directorate General of Registries and Notaries attempted to provide a solution through an official statement: registration was still possible using the existing system. However, the families' hopes were short-lived: the following day, the Minister of Justice, Dolores Delgado, intervened personally and canceled the Directorate General's order. "These parents have resorted to a practice that is illegal in Spain, used to exploit women who sell their bodies," a source from the Ministry of Justice stated, before adding that "the babies of 39 families, already born or in surrogacy arrangements, will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis because the best interests of the child take precedence.".
Limitations imposed by the Spanish government on surrogacy in kyiv
Spain is trying to put an end to this practice
These families, trapped and registered, are therefore seeing their babies. But the Spanish embassy in Kyiv has already warned its consulate not to authorize any new applications. Spain is trying to stop this practice in Ukraine, which complicates registration to discourage families. "The government doesn't appreciate that Spanish families resort to surrogate mothers in another country; this is a political issue," said lawyer Antonio Franco Zenna.
Spain is trying to curb the use of the practice abroad
The ruling Socialist Party, already in the midst of its campaign for the upcoming parliamentary elections on April 28, remains firmly opposed to the process, as are the People's Party and Podemos, with the exception of the centrist liberal Citizens party. Meanwhile, agencies that facilitate surrogacy arrangements abroad have established businesses in Spain and are not illegal.
Ukraine, a "low-cost" destination for surrogacy
According to the lawyer, a dozen Spanish babies were registered each month in Ukraine, a "low-cost" destination where the average cost is around €50,000. Portugal, where the practice was authorized in 2017, is less attractive after numerous restrictions imposed by the Constitutional Court. Antonio Franco Zenna is optimistic: "The jurisprudence is clear: the child's best interests always prevail. We cannot block these families."«
