HOUSE bill No. 8467, a landmark bill aimed at establishing the Philippines’ first comprehensive legal framework regulating surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology (ART), was filed last 11 March.
“The law seeks to give hope to couples who want children while ensuring that the process respects human dignity and protects everyone involved,” said 1Tahanan Partylist Representative Nathan Oducado, who authored the Bill. “Currently, the Philippines lacks a comprehensive legal framework for surrogacy and ART, allowing an unsafe and exploitative system to develop in the shadows.”
Oducado warned that while not explicitly illegal, the lack of a legal framework for surrogacy leaves citizens vulnerable to an unregulated ‘grey market,’ involving the trafficking of impoverished women to be surrogate mothers, health risks from substandard medical care, and the commodification of infants.
“Surrogate mothers, often recruited from marginalized sectors, face medical abandonment, and are left to face physical and psychological trauma,” the bill states. “This law is designed to protect them, intended parents, and especially children from being swindled and exploited by those who prey on married couples’ desire to start a family.”
According to Oducado, the legislation also addresses the legal uncertainty faced by children born through surrogacy arrangements as they are presently born into a state of legal limbo, disconnected from intended parents by a lack of clear pathways to citizenship, filiation, or custody.
“HB 8467 ultimately aims to ensure that every child born through surrogacy enters the world with full legal protection and a recognized family,” the neophyte lawmaker said. “This bill establishes a framework that prioritizes the ‘best interest of the child,’ defined as the totality of circumstances most beneficial for survival, protection, and development.”
While aware that surrogacy is a controversial topic, Oducado stressed that the proposal is grounded in the constitutional duty of the State to defend the rights and welfare of children.
“Under Article XV, Section 3(2) of the Constitution, the State is mandated to defend the right of children to assistance, proper care, and protection,” he said. “We are welcome to hear all points of view from all concerned sectors, especially from medical experts, legal experts, and organizations who work towards the protection of the family, women, and children, including the unborn.”
