La inmutabilidad del principio “mater sempre certa est” y los debates actuales sobre la gestación por substitución en España

Abstract

Surrogated motherhood is subject to numerous ethical objections, although there are various legal options about it. This article analyzes the arguments used in these discussions regarding the possibility to legally dispose of parts of the human body, about the consideration of this type of technique as something unnatural, its relation to the rules of filiation, the potential dangers of exploitation of pregnant women and the protection of the rights of the person who was gestated using this technique. Very few times in this debate the legal meaning that our legal system gives motherhood is discussed, nor the reasons that make so difficult to change the principle that motherhood is determined by birth. Our analysis concludes with the proposal that it is necessary a legal, social and ethical debate where women are present as subjects and not as objects of this public discussion about a hypothetical regulation of surrogate motherhood.