The Minister Delegate in charge of Children, Youth and Families, invited by BFM TV this Saturday, April 27, condemned the tweet of the head of the Reconquest list for Europeans against GPA and said she was in favor of a discussion on the subject.
“I’m absolutely ashamed.” It is in these terms that Sarah El Haïry, the Minister Delegate in charge of Children, Youth and Families, described Marion Maréchal’s remarks concerning GPA on BFM TV this Saturday, April 27. The starting point: a tweet from the niece of Marine Le Pen and head of the Reconquest list in the European elections, posted this Monday, April 22, in reaction to an Instagram publication by the famous stylist Simon Porte Jacquemus. He then announced, with his husband Marco Maestri, the birth of their twins, who came into the world thanks to GPA (surrogacy). In the process, Marion Maréchal split with a “Where is the mother?” on Twitter. On the BFM set, Sarah El Haïry did not mince her words: “This is a call for violence.”
“I am the minister of all families,” retorted Sarah El Haïry on BFM TV, assuring her support for “families with a father, a mother, two fathers, two mothers, one father, only one mother, of a child adopted or born of his own flesh and blood. […] All families without exception.” She also denounces the “homophobic remarks” by Marion Maréchal: “It denies entire families, some of which are made up of two dads.” An exit which risks putting “children are in danger”, insists Sarah El Haïry again: “This violence that she is trying to use in a certain way for electoral reasons, she risks bringing into the schoolyard.”
Questioned on the necessity or not of authorizing GPA in France, Sarah El Haïry does not contradict Emmanuel Macron, opposed to GPA which he considers to be a “Red line”. However, the minister is taking a step forward, and says she wishes “have a debate”: “I hope we get away from hypocrisy […] It’s a difficult subject to address because it is exploited by extremes.” She also insists: children born from surrogacy “are doing well, they have parents who love them, we must protect them, I will be by their side.”
“Disgusting remarks”
Sarah El Haïry is not the only politician to have strongly condemned Marion Maréchal’s comments. “I would always prefer to have two dads than a mother like Marion Maréchal”, notably released environmentalist senator Mélanie Vogel. Same anger on the LFI side, through the voice of Rima Hassan, on the LFI list for the European elections: “Where is your brain? A question that the Le Pens have been asking for generations.”
“Never the last for a disgusting comment, about a family and children…”, for his part reacted Clément Beaune, former Minister of European Affairs and Transport, who said he was in favor of legalizing surrogacy in the future, while government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot denounced a “uninhibited homophobia”.
In Europe, surrogacy is prohibited in France but also in Germany, Spain and Italy. In certain countries, including Ireland, Slovakia or Poland, it is neither authorized nor prohibited and therefore “tolerated”. There are several states which authorize the use of surrogate mothers, under strict supervision, including Denmark, the Netherlands and Greece, but only Romania has so far authorized paid surrogacy.
