Human dignity, equality, and freedom as limits to surrogacy. Certain and uncertain legal answers to this issue

Abstract

For over ten years, people in Spain have been able to have children despite the country’s strict surrogacy laws. This has led to a lot of debate in the public sphere. The legal issues involved are complex, as national and international rules and jurisdictions are intertwined in a legal maze that requires a clear response from the legal system. There are many rights of women and children, as well as interests (of the minor, economic, family and emotional) that come into play in these relationships, which are formed to fulfil a desire that science and the market have managed to materialise. This article supports a view that is strongly defended by doctrine and jurisprudence and now expressly included in domestic and European law, which excludes this practice from legal transactions in order to ensure the proper protection of human dignity and fundamental rights.