Texas has long been one of the best states in the country for surrogacy. That's not an accident — it's because our courts and our laws have respected families and the people who help build them. Now Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has directed the Senate health committee to explore banning foreign nationals from working with Texas surrogates, framing a deeply personal decision as an immigration problem. That framing is wrong, and it would hurt real people here at home.
Surrogacy in Texas is a small but meaningful industry. Surrogates are Texas women making their own choices about their own bodies. Fertility clinics, attorneys, and medical professionals across the state depend on this work. Families — including many Texas families with ties abroad, same-sex couples, and people who simply cannot carry a pregnancy — rely on it. Banning foreign nationals from contracting with Texas surrogates doesn't stop babies from being born. It just pushes those families to other states, takes the income out of Texas, and leaves our surrogates with fewer options. We lose the jobs. We lose the revenue. We lose the women who trusted Texas to support them.
This is still in the interim study phase, which means there's time to stop it before it becomes a bill. Please go on record now opposing any legislation that would restrict who Texas surrogates can work with based on the intended parents' immigration status. Texas families — and the women who help create them — deserve better than to be used as props in an immigration debate.
Please tell your colleagues in Austin that Texas should not move forward with a surrogacy ban targeting foreign nationals.
