On 25 September 2025, the Commission on the Right to Health of the Asamblea Nacional approved the report for the first debate of the bill “Ley de Reproducción Humana Asistida”. This bill was initially proposed to allow surrogacy.
With the joint work of Dignidad y derecho and the Casablanca Declaration, the Commission has resolved to eliminate all references to surrogacy by proposing an express prohibition of this practice in our country.
This process included the visit to Ecuador of Dr. Bernard García Larraín, Executive Director of Casablanca Declaration, whose agenda in Quito and Guayaquil was relevant in making visible the risks of this practice and reinforcing the urgency of its prohibition.
Among the most relevant activities we highlighted:
● Forum in the Asamblea Nacional (Quito, September 16), where the report of the UN Special Rapporteur, Reem Alsalem, was officially presented.
● Conference at the Universidad Hemisferios (Quito, September 17) together with our Vice-President, Victor Manuel Valle, where the impacts of surrogacy were discussed from an academic perspective.
● Appearance at the Health Commission of the Asamblea Nacional (Quito, September 17), a key space where the legal and social effects were disseminated to the commissioners.
● Debate at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Quito, September 19), with a wide audience of young people and opinion leaders.
● Strategic meetings in Guayaquil where Dr. García held meetings with social actors, academics and the media, expanding the scope of the debate in the Coastal Region.
Those activities helped reinforce the public debate and to provide technical foundations for the legislative decision to prohibit surrogacy in Ecuador. The First Debate Report marks a milestone in the legislative process in the framework of the “Ley de Reproducción Humana Asistida” presented by the Defensoría del Pueblo.
Dignidad y derecho and Casablanca Declaration continue to work for national legislation to comply with international standards on the defence of human dignity, women ‘s protection and bioethical principles.
The Declaration of Casablanca makes the following recommendations to the States:
• Prohibit surrogacy on their territory
• Deny any legal validity to contracts bearing the undertaking from a woman to carry and deliver a child
• Punish individuals and corporations acting as intermediaries between the surrogacy mothers and the orderers
• Prosecute individuals who have recourse to a surrogate mother on their territory
• Prosecute their nationals who have recourse to a surrogate mother outside their territory
• Act in favor of the implementation of a legal instrument bearing global prohibition of the surrogacy.
For more information about the Casablanca Declaration:
www.declaration-surrogacy-
On Facebook : Declaration for the Universal Abolition of Surrogacy
On X: @CasaDeclaration
Email: contact@declaration-surrogacy-
👉 Contact: Bernard Garcia, Executive director of Casablanca Declaration, WhatsApp : +33 (0) 6 58 43 69 71
