The Minister of Women of Chile adds to the criticism of surrogates

The head of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity, Antonia Orellana, together with President Gabriel Boric.MinMujeryEG (RR SS)

The Minister for Women and Gender Equality of Chile, Antonia Orellana, who is very close to President Gabriel Boric, has joined the criticism of surrogates regarding the case of the Spanish presenter Ana Obregón, who at 68 years of age welcomed this practice in Florida, United States, where, unlike Spain, it is legal.

Through a thread published on her Twitter account, where she made a direct allusion to Obregón by showing the cover of the magazine

revealed the story, the Chilean minister rejected the surrogacy.

"We do not lend our bodies," she stated before adding that "it is essential to eradicate violence in all its forms, including those that are opening up today."

Orellana is a member of the same party as President Boric, Social Convergence, which is part of the Broad Front (FA), a group that is in great harmony with Podemos.

At the end of January, for example, the president's partner, Irina Karamanos, participated in the International Feminist Meeting organized by the Spanish Ministry of Equality, headed by Minister Irene Montero.

In March 2022, when Boric took office as president, the Spanish minister was part of the Spanish government delegation that arrived in Chile to greet the new president.

Last November, when Montero was attacked by Vox in Congress, Boric expressed his solidarity: “From Latin America, all my support for Irene Montero.

Tireless partner in the fight for greater justice and equality that today faces a new uproar of political violence from the extreme right.

You are not alone Irene.

A transoceanic hug”.

The statements by the Minister for Women of Chile occur precisely one day after Minister Montero referred to the Obregón case and described hiring a rental car as a "form of violence against women."

In her messages via Twitter, the 33-year-old Chilean minister recalled her presentation at the 67th version of the Commission on the Legal and Social Condition of Women (CSW67), in New York, on March 9 and 10, where surrogacy for commercial purposes was addressed.

“Regarding the controversy over this case of a woman who goes to the US (because in Spain it is illegal) to buy a bus [baby], in March we traveled to #CSW67 to warn about the dangers of surrogacy for private purposes. commercials," Orellana wrote.

“Deregulation enables the sexual exploitation of women, trafficking and the sale of children.

The theme of # CSW67 was technology and my position was clear: 'we do not lend our bodies' and it is essential to eradicate violence in all its forms, including those that are opening up today”, she added.

In addition, Orellana said that "with the painful history of our country regarding violence against rural women, impoverished or facing violence who were deceived into trafficking children, we cannot fail to warn from the global south of the danger of these practices" .

Regarding the controversy over this case of a woman who goes to the US (because in Spain it is illegal) to buy a bus, in March we traveled to #CSW67 to warn about the dangers of surrogacy for commercial purposes ✋🏻 pic.twitter .com/rtTGF8q0Fs

— Antonia Orellana (she/her) (@totiorellanag) March 30, 2023

There is no regulation in Chile

Camila Maturana, director of Humanas, a center specialized in human rights and gender justice, points out that in Chile there is no regulation regarding surrogacy and that it is a debate that Chilean society has pending.

“In international experience, there are countries that prohibit this practice, even penalizing it criminally.

Others regulate it for altruistic purposes, excluding payment or profit, while there are countries that allow it.

In these cases, a market has been generated that favors people from different countries who, having the money, can fulfill their wish for maternity or paternity.

However, the main concern regarding this lies in the protection of women in vulnerable situations that could expose them to situations of exploitation”, explains the lawyer.

Maturana adds that, in the event that any discussion in this regard begins, it must be resolved whether legislation is capable of protecting the best interests of children and adolescents "and safeguarding the autonomy of decision-making of all women, especially poor women, given the unfortunate history of our country”.

"Both during the civic-military dictatorship (1973-1990) and after it, there have been numerous cases of illegal adoptions that, in reality, were situations of child trafficking theft," says the Humanas specialist.

Minister Orellana has a recognized career in feminism.

Boric's government, in turn, has been the first in Chile that has openly declared itself feminist and, among other symbols, has a joint Cabinet of 12 women and 12 men.

The president's wife, Karamanos, initially assumed the position of First Lady, but later she transformed that space and stopped working at La Moneda.

In mid-March, however, the government spokesperson, Camila Vallejo, assured: "It is very pretentious on our part to say that we are a feminist government (...) It is an aspiration."