Can Intended Parents Force a Surrogate to Terminate a Pregnancy in Colombia?
A disturbing scenario recently circulated in an online surrogacy discussion.
According to the account, a gestational carrier was approximately 20 weeks pregnant when the anatomy scan showed that the fetus was female and had mild hydronephrosis.
The intended parents reportedly had strongly preferred a boy. After learning the fetal sex and the ultrasound finding, they allegedly pressured the surrogate to terminate the pregnancy, arguing that the contract gave them authority over pregnancy-related decisions.
The surrogate refused.
Whether every detail of that online account can be independently verified or not, the dispute raises a very real question for international intended parents:
Can intended parents require a gestational surrogate to terminate a pregnancy simply because the fetus is not the preferred sex or has a treatable medical condition?
In a professionally managed Colombia surrogacy program, the answer should be clear:
No intended parent should be allowed to treat pregnancy termination as a consumer decision.
Mild Fetal Hydronephrosis Is Not Automatically a Severe Diagnosis
Fetal hydronephrosis means that part of the fetal urinary system appears dilated on ultrasound.
The seriousness depends on the degree of dilation, whether one or both kidneys are involved, whether there are other abnormalities, and whether the condition progresses during pregnancy.
Many mild cases resolve before or after birth without treatment. Other cases require monitoring, medication, imaging, or occasionally surgery after delivery.
Therefore, a finding of mild hydronephrosis should not automatically be described as a catastrophic fetal abnormality.
The appropriate response is specialist evaluation and follow-up—not pressure based on fetal sex or a demand for a “perfect” child.
Colombian Law Protects the Pregnant Person’s Autonomy
Colombia’s Constitutional Court issued Decision C-055 in 2022, establishing that consensual abortion is not a criminal offense when performed before the 24th week of pregnancy.
This means that, during that period, the decision belongs to the pregnant woman or pregnant person. She does not need the intended parents’ approval, and she does not need to prove a specific medical indication.
After 24 weeks, termination may remain legally available when one of the established grounds applies, including serious risks to health or life, pregnancy resulting from sexual violence, or qualifying fetal conditions under Colombian constitutional jurisprudence.
This has an important implication for Colombia surrogacy:
A contract cannot simply transfer control of the surrogate’s body to the intended parents.
The intended parents may express their wishes.
Doctors may provide medical recommendations.
Lawyers may document how disagreements will be handled.
But the surrogate remains the patient.
What Should a Colombia Surrogacy Contract Say?
A responsible surrogacy contract should not say:
“The surrogate must terminate whenever the intended parents request it.”
It should instead establish a structured decision-making process.
That process may include:
- Advance discussion of severe fetal abnormalities
- Independent legal advice for the surrogate
- Counseling from a qualified maternal-fetal medicine specialist
- Clear documentation of the intended parents’ preferences
- Recognition of the surrogate’s informed medical consent
- Procedures for resolving disagreement
- Confirmation that no person may be forced to undergo a medical procedure
The purpose of a surrogacy contract is to reduce uncertainty.
It is not to erase bodily autonomy.
Can Intended Parents Request Termination Because of Fetal Sex?
A professionally managed Colombia surrogacy program should reject such a demand.
Fetal sex is not a medical complication.
Terminating a wanted surrogate pregnancy solely because the fetus is female or male raises serious ethical concerns involving discrimination, commodification, and pressure on the gestational carrier.
Intended parents should understand this before treatment begins:
Surrogacy is not an order for a child with selected consumer characteristics.
The child may have unexpected medical needs.
The pregnancy may develop complications.
The fetus may not have the sex the parents hoped for.
Parenthood requires accepting that uncertainty.
What About Cleft Lip?
We have previously received a consultation in which intended parents asked whether they could request termination if prenatal imaging showed a cleft lip.
An isolated cleft lip or cleft palate is generally a treatable congenital condition. Children may require surgery and multidisciplinary follow-up, but the diagnosis alone is not equivalent to a lethal fetal abnormality. Specialist services routinely provide surgical, feeding, dental, speech, and long-term support for affected children.
However, the correct medical approach is not to make an absolute statement before evaluation.
A cleft may occasionally occur alongside a chromosomal condition or other major abnormalities. Therefore, the obstetrician or maternal-fetal medicine specialist should assess:
- Whether the cleft is isolated
- Whether other structural abnormalities are present
- Whether diagnostic genetic testing is appropriate
- The expected treatment and long-term prognosis
For an isolated, repairable cleft, intended parents should not assume that pregnancy termination is medically recommended.
Intended Parents Do Not Own the Pregnancy
This is the central ethical principle.
Intended parents may have paid for IVF treatment, legal services, surrogate coordination, and pregnancy expenses.
That financial commitment does not make them owners of the surrogate’s body.
Nor does it make the fetus a product that can be rejected for failing to meet preferred specifications.
A gestational carrier is an independent human being undergoing pregnancy.
She retains the right to:
- Receive complete medical information
- Ask for second opinions
- Consent to or refuse medical procedures
- Receive independent legal advice
- Be protected from threats or financial coercion
Any agency that promises intended parents total control over pregnancy decisions is creating legal and ethical risk.
How Responsible Colombia Programs Prevent Conflict
The best time to discuss termination is not after an abnormal ultrasound.
It is before embryo transfer.
A professional Colombia surrogacy program should discuss in advance:
- Severe fetal abnormalities
- Maternal health emergencies
- Multiple pregnancy and fetal reduction
- Prenatal genetic testing
- The surrogate’s personal beliefs
- The intended parents’ expectations
- The legal limits of contractual decision-making
- What happens when the parties disagree
Not every surrogate and every intended parent will be compatible.
If their views on pregnancy termination are fundamentally different, they should not be matched.
That is better than attempting to solve the conflict at 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The Canbaby Surrogacy Perspective
At Canbaby Surrogacy, we believe a successful Colombia surrogacy journey must protect both the intended parents and the gestational surrogate.
We do not view the surrogate as a service provider who can be ordered to undergo a medical procedure.
We also do not believe intended parents should be misled into thinking that paying for a program gives them unlimited authority over the pregnancy.
Our approach is based on:
- Careful matching before treatment
- Clear discussion of prenatal testing
- Qualified obstetric and maternal-fetal medicine advice
- Independent informed consent
- Ethical legal documentation
- Respect for Colombian reproductive-rights law
- Protection of the future child
If a serious medical problem is discovered, the surrogate and intended parents should receive accurate specialist counseling.
If the condition is mild or treatable, such as many cases of mild hydronephrosis or an isolated cleft lip, fear and personal preference should not replace medical evidence.
A responsible international surrogacy program does not promise a “perfect product.”
It creates a framework in which difficult decisions are handled with medicine, ethics, informed consent, and respect.
Because in Colombia surrogacy, intended parents are building a family.
They are not purchasing control over another person’s body.
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