Belgium
A Belgian woman has sold a baby on the Internet, said Rachel Crivellaro in Brussels’ La Libre Belgique. And now Belgium must figure out how to prevent such a horror from happening again. The woman had contracted with a Belgian couple to bear a child for them—the product of her egg and the man’s sperm—for a fee. After pocketing their money, she told the expectant parents she had miscarried—and then she sold the little girl to a Dutch couple over the Internet. Now both couples are suing for custody, and the law is unclear about whose rights should prevail. So Belgian politicians are in a dither to pass laws that will regulate surrogacy. But how? Proposals “range from an outright ban on the practice to a hands-off approach.” One thing we know: We won’t follow the U.S., “where surrogate motherhood agreements are adjudicated like any other contract.” In Belgium, thank goodness, “the impersonal commercialization of an embryo is inconceivable.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Quiz of The Week: 15 – 21 NovemberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
Can the UK do more on climate change?Today's Big Question Labour has shown leadership in the face of fraying international consensus, but must show the public their green mission is ‘a net benefit, not a net cost’
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will US Catholics rebel against the Pope?Podcast Plus what are the ethics of freezing your late partner?
