TEXAS — The Texas Senate health committee is scheduled to hear testimony regarding a potential ban on foreign nationals contracting with Texas surrogates. This action follows Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick's designation of examining surrogacy by foreign nationals as an interim charge for the Texas Senate ahead of the legislative session set to begin in January.

The Texas Republican Party platform previously approved a ban on commercial surrogacy for foreign nationals. The platform also supports banning third-party egg and sperm donations and the commercialization of human reproduction in Texas. Additionally, it supports banning public funding for in vitro fertilization (IVF).

State Rep. Brian Harrison proposes laws to criminalize participation in birth tourism, stop issuing birth certificates to children of non-citizens, and expand the attorney general's office powers to investigate businesses involved in birth tourism. In April, Attorney General Ken Paxton sued a Houston birthing center, alleging it facilitated the entry of Chinese nationals into Texas for the purpose of birthing children.

John Seago, President of Texas Right to Life, indicated that there appears to be an interest in passing legislation concerning commercial surrogacy. "My read on it is there does seems to be an appetite to pass some legislation, at the very least dealing with commercial surrogacy, or with contracts with individuals who are not citizens of the United States, that's like the baseline to me," Seago said. He added, "For us it's really a question of how much higher we go to really put in a more robust ethical framework around the practice of surrogacy in Texas." Texas Right to Life does not support commercial surrogacy, which involves paying a surrogate to carry a fetus.

Surrogacy involves transferring an embryo to a surrogate via IVF, where the surrogate and child are not biologically related. Texas established a legal framework for surrogacy in 2003, allowing intended parents to be recognized as the child's legal parents before birth. The U.S. government does not collect data on surrogacy births because contracts are private. Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions estimates that 5% of its cases involve foreign nationals.

Why It Matters

The legislative efforts in Texas to consider banning commercial surrogacy for foreign nationals reflect a broader push by some state lawmakers to regulate assisted reproductive technologies. These proposals, including potential restrictions on birth certificates for children of non-citizens, indicate a shift from the state's existing surrogacy legal framework established in 2003.

The potential changes could impact both commercial surrogacy providers in the state and individuals seeking such services, particularly foreign nationals. The legislative activity, marked by the Texas Senate health committee's scheduled testimony and Lieutenant Governor Patrick's interim charge, signals a focused review of current surrogacy practices in the state.