Senate Democrats blocked the passage of legislation introduced by Florida Sen. Rick Scott that sought to prevent citizens of hostile foreign nations from using American surrogates to secure U.S. citizenship for their children.
The proposal, titled the Stopping Adversarial Foreign Exploitation of Kids in Domestic Surrogacy (SAFE KIDS) Act, represents the first federal attempt to regulate commercial surrogacy contracts involving foreign adversaries. Specifically, the bill targets arrangements involving citizens from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
Under the legislation, any commercial surrogacy agreement entered into with citizens of those four nations would be rendered legally invalid. Rather than penalizing the surrogates, the bill establishes a federal misdemeanor for brokers who knowingly or recklessly facilitate prohibited contracts.
The vote follows growing traction among Senate Republicans, with 12 lawmakers signing on as co-sponsors. Supporters referenced recent legal and reporting developments—including a Supreme Court ruling striking down an executive order on citizenship and news reports regarding surrogacy operations in California—as evidence of an unregulated loophole in federal immigration and family law.
“Our foreign adversaries aren’t afraid to use unsuspecting American surrogates as pawns to churn out birthright citizens,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said, highlighting a report uncovering a California-based operation involving 22 infants born through surrogate mothering. “This is a disturbing attack on our laws, on the innocent children abused, and on the young women who were deceived.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) also spoke in favor of the measure, pointing out the lack of existing federal oversight in the commercial surrogacy sector. “China is using America’s surrogacy industry to buy U.S. citizenship for its elite, and American women are being used and lied to in the process,” Lummis said. “Right now, surrogacy in this country is almost entirely unregulated, and predators have noticed.”
The bill’s co-sponsors argue that international commercial surrogacy creates distinct national security risks and leaves room for human trafficking. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) emphasized that the bill’s enforcement mechanisms focus squarely on third-party organizers. “The SAFE KIDS Act would put an end to surrogacy schemes being used for our enemies’ gain by punishing criminal brokers, not surrogates,” Ricketts said. “This is a matter of national security and defending innocent life.”
Adding to the list of co-sponsors were Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn, Jim Banks, Dan Sullivan, Ted Budd, Mike Rounds, John Kennedy, Ashley Moody, Dave McCormick, and Tim Sheehy.
“Foreign adversaries should never be allowed to abuse America’s surrogacy laws to traffic innocent babies, game our immigration system or threaten our national security,” Sen. Kennedy (R-La.) said.
With the Democratic block on the Senate floor, the legislation remains halted, leaving current federal policies on foreign commercial surrogacy unchanged.
READ: U.S. Targets Global Network Assisting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
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