Sperm deposited in the woman's vagina travel up through the uterus and through the fallopian tubes to fertilise the egg. This newly created embryo returns to the uterus where it will become pregnant. Thus begins the miracle of life.
Uterus: can it be rented?
If a woman has no ovaries or her fallopian tubes are blocked, she can become a mother. If a man's sperm is useless, he can be a father. But if there is no uterus, it is illegal to form a biological family in our environment.
Legal framework
And this is only for legal reasons. The Civil Code stipulates since 1889 that the only mother is the one who gives birth to the child. It is surprising that in times when the most traditional concept of the family is being remodelled, a 19th century rule still prevents individuals or couples (and I stress the neutrality with which I use these words at this time) from having biological children if there is no childbirth involved.
Because this situation does not only affect women with problems in their uterus, it also affects groups that have already been granted by law the ability to create a family through adoption, homosexual male couples or men who want to form a single-parent family. In the last 126 years the legal situation has reduced the problem to whether or not a womb is available to have offspring. Not even the biological argument can be used to justify it, since a woman who is menopausal can become so against biology thanks to egg donation .
Surrogate motherhood
It is true that surrogacy is a thorny issue with important ethical and legal implications, but our country has previously been a pioneer in legislating socially compromising situations.
It would be paramount to protect the surrogate mother from possible economic exploitation and indispensable to provide for the surrogate mother's obligations towards the parents. Complicated? Yes. Impossible? No.
Finally, I would like to stress that surrogacy is much more than a way for women who are more concerned about their careers or their physique to have children. It is a medical treatment. So perhaps it would be best to regulate it by allowing it for people who cannot become parents in any other way, not allowing it for those who do not want to use their bodies to have children.
