On Tuesday, September 10, 2024, the Hamburg Max Planck Institute will host its monthly virtual workshop Current Research in Private International Law at 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm (CEST). Nieve Rubaja (University of Buenos Aires) will speak, in English, about the topic

International Surrogacy Agreements From the Latin American Perspective. An Overview.

The media, judicial cases and administrative constraints show that surrogacy is a reality in Latin American countries. Regulation on this subject matter has become a need in order to protect the human rights involved, especially the rights of the children born. Over the last decades, legal systems in Latin America have been transversely affected by the emergence and progressivity of human rights. In addition, there are more than 20 countries in the region and each of them has its own historical, social and cultural shades; therefore, human rights have been a key factor for the unification of some conceptions in the region. This imprint impacts on surrogacy regulation (and bills) both for domestic and for cross-border cases. The few countries which provide rules regarding cross-border surrogacy cases choose a recognition approach. According to this, the legal parentage established abroad must be recognised in the forum if it is compatible with their international public policy, taking into account the best interest of the child. Among Latin American countries Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and El Salvador have designated representatives to participate in the Working Group on the Parentage/Surrogacy Project of the Hague Conference of Private International Law, which brings an opportunity to include Latin American voices. This meeting aims at providing an overview of the comparative analysis carried out considering the distinctive features of the region.