Henriette Reker
Mayor of Cologne
Paris, 1st October 2025
Dear Mayor Reker,
ICAMS, the International Coalition for the Abolition of Surrogacy, representing fifty member organisations across 17 countries on three continents, would like to draw your attention to the “Wish for a Baby” fair, which will be held on 18–19 October at the Sartory Halls in Cologne. The event promotes surrogacy, a practice that is explicitly prohibited under German law (§§13c, 13d AdVermiG).
We are concerned that the presence of international surrogacy agencies at this fair constitutes a de facto violation of German law. These agencies cannot “neutrally” inform the public: their explicit goal is to recruit people and market their services. Their financial and ideological interests represent a clear conflict of interest. The presence of agencies such as San Diego Fertility Center and Nordic Surrogacy, which engage in commercial surrogacy, constitutes a clear violation of German law and promotes a practice that breaches international human rights standards.
Surrogacy treats the child as a contractual object, subordinating their existence to the reproductive ambitions of others, which, according to the 1993 Hague Convention (HCCH), constitutes child selling, since allocating a child to others before birth meets the criteria of baby selling. This practice also reduces women to instruments of reproduction. If one examines the foundations of female oppression and patriarchy, it becomes evident that control over women’s reproductive capacities is central to systemic domination.
Moreover, the argument of surrogate’s “consent” is legally irrelevant in cases of human trafficking, which surrogacy constitutes under international law. Even if consent were legally valid, it cannot be considered free and informed due to the deceptive practices of recruitment agencies and the extreme economic vulnerability of surrogates, who are often women from disadvantaged backgrounds seeking to survive. Consent is further emptied of meaning when one considers that humans are socialized to act in accordance with deeply internalized norms. Totalitarian regimes have historically used propaganda to embed obedience, and similarly, patriarchal socialization teaches women that they are primarily made to bear children and to use their bodies for the ambitions of others. Unconscious submission is a core mechanism of domination: without it, hierarchical power relations could not exist. Many women remain unaware of the ways in which their socialization enforces their own subordination, making any supposed “consent” in commercial surrogacy fundamentally compromised.
This concern is not theoretical. A recent account by Carlotta Capelletti, who visited the “Desire for Children” fair, illustrates the reality of these practices. She reports being confronted with a highly commercialized environment, where clinics displayed images of happy families and perfect babies, while promoting surrogacy as a customizable service for paying clients. Presenters emphasized the wishes of intended parents, with little or no attention to the surrogate mother, who was treated as a mere instrument. Costs were presented matter-of-factly, with $45,000 allocated to the surrogate and the remaining $105,000 clearly representing the clinic’s profit. See there : https://abolition-ms.org/en/our-actions/national-institutions/france-en/the-evidence-is-clear-surrogacy-is-nothing-but-the-sale-of-children-and-reproductive-exploitation-of-women/
Similarly, reports from the “Men having Babies” event in Brussels describe an environment where international surrogacy providers actively marketed children as products. Around 250 wealthy candidates attended, exploring options such as sibling discounts, genetic customization, and even “unicorn” egg donors priced at $50,000 compared to $8,000 for other donors. Women’s and children’s fundamental rights were sidelined in favor of customer satisfaction and profit. Organizers and clinics manipulated attendees with tightly scheduled presentations, guiding them through multi-year surrogacy journeys designed to maximize financial gain. Surrogates were portrayed as heroic figures, so-called “Captain Marvels” or “Wonder Women”, yet their autonomy was entirely subordinated to the commercial objectives of the industry and the reproductive desires of clients. Clinics explicitly admitted that most egg donors participated primarily for financial incentives, including tuition, travel, or cosmetic procedures. See there : https://donorkinderen.wordpress.com/2021/11/20/men-selling-and-buying-babies-2/?fbclid=IwAR24YU0VgvdC5yfbbkWLumpZjh6MH44Ju11rE8eoTmSOI4RSxQQ4GlWMbQc*
Furthermore, if this event were truly a neutral platform for information, why are feminist associations that fight for the abolition of surrogacy systematically excluded? The absence of critical voices, while commercial agencies are prominently featured, suggests that the fair functions as an advertising and recruitment platform rather than an impartial exchange.
This raises several pressing questions:
- How does the City of Cologne justify the presence of surrogacy agencies at this event, given that their activities directly contravene the prohibition of surrogacy under German law?
- On what basis does the City distinguish between “information” and “advertising” when the actors involved have direct commercial and ideological stakes?
- Why are abolitionist feminist organizations, who provide essential perspectives on the harms and human rights violations inherent in surrogacy, not invited to participate if the fair is truly intended as a neutral, informative platform?
Allowing the “Wish for a Baby” fair in its current form legitimizes the commodification of women’s bodies and children, undermines the rule of law in Germany, and silences critical voices.
We look forward to your response and thank you in advance.
Yours faithfully,
Marie Josèphe Devillers, Ana-Luana Stoicea-Deram, Berta O. Garcia – Co-presidents of the Coalition for the Abolition of Surrogate Motherhood