New development in the government's adoption blunder: Surrogate children are also affected

Now the minister wants to exempt a new group from work obligations.

Another group is set to be affected by the government's new law on work obligations in connection with cash benefits, which was otherwise intended to primarily affect non-Western immigrants.

The Ministry of Employment confirms to DR that surrogate children born abroad - just like adopted children - are covered by the new rules that come into effect on July 1 this year.

This means that if a Danish couple, for example, chooses to have a child through a surrogacy agreement from a country like the USA, the child will not have the same rights as its parents.

And that was not the intention. That is why Minister of Employment Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen (S) will also exempt them from the law, just as she has already said that she will exempt internationally adopted children.

- I will discuss this with the agreement parties this week, the minister writes in a written response to DR News.

At that meeting, the minister, together with the parties, will examine the entire scheme in detail, it is said.

What are surrogate children and what are the rules?

It is not currently prohibited to have a child with a surrogate mother, as long as there is no money involved.

But it is not legal for a healthcare professional to help a woman become pregnant if there is suspicion that it is a case of surrogacy.

Therefore, many childless couples and single people are forced to take the surrogate mother abroad, where it is possible to get help with the fertilization of the surrogate mother.

In a number of other countries it is also permitted to pay for a surrogate mother. In these cases, the child may be born outside Denmark's borders and will therefore be registered as having entered.

The Ministry of Social Affairs stated last year that up to 100 children come to Denmark each year who have been born to a woman abroad who has been paid to carry the child. The number is estimated to be increasing.

Source: Weekly for Doctors, Ministry of Social Affairs

Several groups affected

Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen has been in a bit of a storm for over a month, when it became clear that internationally adopted children would be affected by the law.

This stirred up emotions among several adoptees and their families, who, among other things, made it clear under #ErJegStadigDanish? that they felt alienated in their own country. They were placed in the "immigrant" category in the legislation.

Ane Halsboe-Jøgensen was surprised by the emotions it triggered when it turned out that adoptees did not have the same rights as other Danes.

It has since emerged that if a couple has a child while on holiday abroad, that child will also be subject to the new rules, as Politiken has described.

In addition, children of diplomats, i.e. children born abroad to parents sent by the Danish state, will also be affected. Both the Liberal Party and the Moderate Party will also have exempted them.

But the minister has refused to exempt those groups.

The minister will only exempt adopted and now also surrogate children born abroad.

Expert: Difficult to understand

Frank Høgholm Pedersen, an associate professor of family and inheritance law at the University of Copenhagen, is surprised that no thought has been given to surrogate children.

- It is generally difficult to understand that the way you were born should have an impact on your legal status 18 years later.

- So the children via surrogacy typically come to the country when they are a few weeks old, so it can be difficult to understand that they should not have the same legal status as the children and young people they grew up with, says Frank Høgholm Pedersen.

He thinks it makes sense that Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen will now also make changes so that surrogate children are not covered by the law.

- I think it's positive, and I hope it's an expression that people generally want to say that there should be equality in this area.

- Children born via surrogacy abroad should not be disadvantaged compared to children in general, he says.

According to the expert, surrogate children have also been equalized in other areas.

He highlights that a new law came into force at the turn of the year, which means, among other things, that in male couples, the man who is the genetic father is considered the child's father, while the other man can apply to be recognized as a co-father. Previously, this required a stepchild adoption.

Furthermore, the law also means that the child will receive an immediate inheritance right between both intended parents once the application is approved.

But there are still some gaps, he says.

- Children born via surrogacy have had a quite vulnerable legal position. A full step could have been taken and rectified that. Now a step has been taken where the legal position has become considerably better, he says.

According to Pedersen, more than 100 children come to Denmark annually through surrogacy agreements abroad.