Labour backbencher Romilda Zarb told Parliament on Tuesday evening that, in her opinion, the time has come for a discussion to be opened on introducing surrogacy in Malta.
Zarb stated that as the country had the courage to introduce IVF in 2013, the country should consider whether surrogacy in the Maltese islands should remain illegal as per the Embryo Protection Act.
She noted that reforms such as the introduction of IVF, the awaited launch of the inaugural national Women's Health Strategy, and the addition of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) and drugs that treat endometriosis to the government formulary have all opened, or will open, new doors in their own right.
"But if there is one topic that for me keeps reminding us that our work is not yet finished, it is the topic of surrogacy," Zarb said.
Aware that surrogacy raises differing opinions that touch on ethics, values, and beliefs, the PL MP believes that "it is precisely for this reason I believe that we should not be afraid to discuss it."
"Because if there's one thing the IVF experience has taught us, it's that politics should no longer shy away from difficult topics," she said.
Zarb continued that if Malta, as a country, continued to fear discussing controversial issues, today we wouldn't be able to talk about having almost a thousand babies born through IVF procedures, or about Pre-Implantation Genetic Testing for Monogenic Diseases (PGT-M), or on opportunities that have changed so many families' lives.
The PL backbencher said she believes that the discussion of surrogacy should be approached "maturely, responsibly, and based on facts" - and that this discussion should not base itself of fear or prejudice.
Zarb said she wants the surrogacy discussion to focus on affected persons, such as women who can never bear their own children due to a medical condition, women whose lives will be put at serious risk through a pregnancy, as well as persons and couples who "despite every attempt, have not yet found another way to fulfil their dream of becoming parents."
Presently, surrogacy cannot be carried out in the Maltese islands; doing so would be a direct violation of the Embryo Protection Act.
That being said, Zarb recalled how just this past legislature, an amendment was approved to extend maternity leave to people who have a baby via surrogacy outside the Maltese islands. She mentioned that prior to this amendment, an anomaly existed where the father of a surrogate baby qualified for paternity leave while the mother could not benefit from maternity leave - even though they shared the same child.
On this, government MP Zarb said that "this was not a reform on surrogacy. It was a reform about equality. It was a reform that recognised that the law could no longer turn a blind eye to a reality that already existed. And that is precisely why I believe that we should not stop there."
"We should continue to discuss with a sense of responsibility whether there are further steps that our country should take to continue removing discriminations that still exist," she said.
Zarb added that progress was never about reaching a unanimous agreement, progress has always been about listening, discussing, and making difficult decisions, "and above all, not allowing a minority to remain invisible simply because its situation does not affect the majority."
She said that the Maltese islands became a more just place whenever the government decided to widen rights, and that this was observed when homosexual couples were granted the right to adopt children, through the introduction of IVF and PGT-M, and when the maternity leave anomaly for surrogacy done abroad was addressed.
Zarb stated that every reform made in the field of assisted procreation was not done to simply create new rights, "but to grant a fair opportunity to those people who, due to a medical condition or circumstances beyond their control, were encountering obstacles to building a family."
She believes that politics must move hand-in-hand with science while respecting human dignity and the value of life.
Zarb concluded that the success behind these reforms was not the quantity of laws amended, "the greatest success is every baby that was born. Every family that was built. Every parent who was able to hug their son or daughter after long years of waiting."
"And that is why I believe that we should continue to work with the same sense of responsibility, with humility, with courage and always with respect for life, so that every step we take continues to give hope to those who need it most," the PL MP said.