Paying surrogates, sperm and egg donors goes against Canadian values

In Canada, it’s illegal to pay for the services of a surrogate mother or to purchase human gametes — sperm and eggs. These prohibitions are entrenched in the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. Some Liberal members of Parliament want to change this.

Anthony Housefather, MP for Mount Royal and chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, recently held a news conference to announce that he plans to introduce a private member’s bill to remove the legal prohibitions on payments.

Flanked by fertility doctors, lawyers, intended parents, surrogates and fertility agents, Housefather argued that Canadians should be able to pay — and be paid — for surrogacy, as well as human sperm and eggs.

But the planned private member’s bill is ill-conceived (pun intended) for several reasons.

‘Sound ethical reasons’

At the outset, it’s important to remember there are sound ethical reasons to prohibit “trade in the reproductive capabilities of women and men and the exploitation of children, women and men for commercial ends,” as stated in the Assisted Human Reproduction...