Bratislava – 20 September 2025. Olivia Maurel, author of Where Are You, Mom? (Où es-tu, maman ?, Éditions du Rocher) and international spokesperson of the Casablanca Declaration, will visit Slovakia from September 21 to 24, 2025 for the launch of her book and a series of high-level events calling for the universal abolition of surrogacy.

A Personal Story, A Global Cause

Born through surrogacy in Kentucky, Olivia Maurel openly shares the trauma of being separated from her birth mother and speaks against the commodification of women and children. Her book, already published in several languages and soon appearing in Spanish, Slovak and Dutch, has received strong resonance worldwide.

As spokesperson of the Casablanca Declaration, endorsed by more than 150 global experts and personalities from across the political and religious spectrum, she delivers a clear message: surrogacy is not an act of love, but a new form of exploitation that must be abolished everywhere.

Highlights of the Slovak Visit

During her stay in Bratislava, Olivia Maurel will address the Health Committee of the Slovak Parliament alongside the Children’s Ombudsman Jozef Mikloško, engage in a public discussion on her book, lecture at the Faculty of Law of Comenius University, and participate in a national TV debate. She will also meet with MEP Miriam Lexman, Catholic and Lutheran bishops, and students from the Anton Neuwirth College. Each of these moments will provide opportunities to share her testimony, debunk common myths around surrogacy, and present the Casablanca Declaration as a new abolitionist movement.

A Decisive Moment for Slovakia

This visit comes at a crucial political moment: the Slovak Parliament is currently debating a constitutional amendment that would ban surrogacy agreements. Olivia Maurel will contribute her testimony and expertise to remind lawmakers that this issue is neither political nor religious: it is about human dignity, the fundamental rights of women and children, and social justice.

A New Abolitionist Movement

“Surrogacy is the slavery of our century. It reduces women’s bodies to commodities and children to contractual products. The Casablanca Declaration is a new abolitionist movement, following in the footsteps of those who once fought to end slavery,” says Olivia Maurel.

Her visit to Slovakia aims both to support local voices calling for a ban and to send an international call for unity against a global industry projected to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming decade.

The Declaration of Casablanca makes the following recommendations to the States:

• Prohibit surrogacy on their territory

• Deny any legal validity to contracts bearing the undertaking from a woman to carry and deliver a child

• Punish individuals and corporations acting as intermediaries between the surrogacy mothers and the orderers

• Prosecute individuals who have recourse to a surrogate mother on their territory

• Prosecute their nationals who have recourse to a surrogate mother outside their territory

• Act in favor of the implementation of a legal instrument bearing global prohibition of the surrogacy.

For more information about the Casablanca Declaration:

www.declaration-surrogacy-casablanca.org

On Facebook: Declaration for the Universal Abolition of Surrogacy

On X: @CasaDeclaration

Email: contact@declaration-surrogacy-casablanca.org

Press Contact: Bernard Garcia, Executive Director of the Casablanca Declaration, WhatsApp: +33 (0) 6 58 43 69 71