Equality Florida Warns Against Political Attacks on Surrogacy, IVF, and Family Freedom

Equality Florida Warns Against Political Attacks on Surrogacy, IVF, and Family Freedom

Families built through surrogacy and IVF deserve the same dignity, stability, and legal protections as any other family.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Equality Florida is sounding the alarm over dangerous and politically motivated efforts to undermine surrogacy and in vitro fertilization and (IVF), warning that the attacks broadly threaten reproductive freedom and the ability to start a family.

Recent reporting has raised alarm among reproductive rights advocates, family law experts, and LGBTQ organizations after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier intervened in a surrogacy dispute equating surrogacy to slavery and human trafficking. Those inflammatory and deeply offensive arguments could destabilize decades of family law and undermine protections for parents and children alike, including the legality of adoption in Florida.

While the case involves a same-sex couple, Equality Florida emphasized that the broader risks extend to countless Floridians who rely on assisted reproduction to have children.

“Family is defined by love, not Attorney General Uthmeier’s campaign strategy,” said Jon Harris Maurer, General Counsel and Public Policy Director for Equality Florida. “Politicians have no business intruding because parents turn to surrogacy and IVF to start the family they’ve desperately dreamed of. What could be more hypocritical of parents’ rights? This is part of a broader and deeply dangerous effort to dictate who gets to build a family, whose families are recognized under the law, and who deserves the freedom to parent their children.”

Maurer warned the legal theories being advanced could create widespread instability for children and parents by undermining clear legal parentage protections.

“Every child deserves security and stability,” Maurer said. “Children should not lose the protection of legally recognized parents because politicians are pursuing ideological attacks on modern families. Families, no matter how they are formed, deserve equal dignity and protection under the law. No family should be treated like a second-class family because they relied on surrogacy, IVF, or adoption to have children.

Surrogacy law is already highly developed and protects all those involved. Lawful surrogacy arrangements already include extensive legal and ethical safeguards, including informed consent, independent legal counsel, medical screening, mental health evaluations, enforceable agreements, and court oversight.

“Equating consensual, legally regulated surrogacy with human trafficking is outrageous and wildly offensive,” Maurer continued. “Trafficking and coercion are already illegal. If policymakers truly care about combating it, they should focus on strengthening safeguards, not weaponizing misinformation to eliminate pathways to parenthood for loving families.”

Attorney General Uthmeier’s lawsuit resembles failed legislative efforts to drastically restrict surrogacy and IVF. While these attacks threaten all Floridians, they are especially concerning for the LGBTQ community, which frequently faces fewer options for family formation. Equality Florida pledges to continue working alongside reproductive rights advocates, legal organizations, surrogacy and adoption attorneys, and impacted families to oppose attempts to restrict access to IVF, surrogacy, and reproductive healthcare in Florida.

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