Switzerland: Veto of the Federal Tribunal in opposition to surrogate pregnancies
The Swiss Federal Tribunal has opposed its veto to the recognition of twins born in 2012 to a surrogate mother in the United States. The highest Swiss court has confirmed the refusal of local authorities to whom the “parents” had had recourse. A couple domiciled in the canton of Aargau (northern Switzerland) had requested to be registered as parents of children.
The Federal Tribunal noted that the children have no biological link with their would-be parents since the embryos implanted in the uterus of the surrogate were produced from anonymously donated eggs and sperm.
“Under Swiss law,” the federal judged stated according to daily 20 Minutes of October 1st 2015, all forms of surrogacy are forbidden by the Federal Constitution. One of the chief goals of this law is to prevent the child being reduced to the status of merchandise and aims to protect the mother who carries the child from possible commercialization of her body.” The judges emphasize, moreover, that the would-be parents have no link with the United States, where they travelled with the sole intention of getting around Swiss law.
Unlike Switzerland, the French Supreme Court confirmed on July 3, 2015, the registration of children born abroad through surrogacy.
(Sources: kipa-apic.ch – 20 Minutes – DICI no. 323, 23/10/15)
