Ghislaine Gendron
Feminist Writer & Activist; National Co-coordinator, WDI Canada (Québec & Francophonie)
Surrogacy, Gender Identity Policy, Sex-Based Rights
Quebec-based feminist writer and activist, and national co-coordinator for Women's Declaration International (WDI) Canada, responsible for Québec and the francophonie. She has been active in feminist organizations since 2014, advocating against surrogacy and gender self-identification policy, and has contributed to government submissions, media interviews, and international feminist publications.
Surrogate Mothers: Quebec Must Say No to the Regulation of the Commodification of Women and Children
Co-authored with Michèle Sirois, this piece argues that regulating surrogacy in Quebec legitimizes the commodification of women's bodies and reproductive labour, and that no regulatory framework can adequately protect surrogates from the inherent power imbalances in surrogacy contracts.
Testimony to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights — Bill C-6
Presenting on behalf of Pour les droits des femmes du Québec, Gendron brought forward the testimony of a young woman who had undergone gender transition as an adolescent and suffered lasting harm. Her testimony argued that Bill C-6, as drafted, would prevent girls from receiving the exploratory therapeutic support they need before embarking on irreversible medical pathways.
Biography
Ghislaine Gendron has been active in feminist organizations since 2014 and sat on the Board of Directors of Pour les droits des femmes du Québec until 2021, where she served on two strategic committees focused on gender identity and surrogacy. She has written widely in Québec media, contributed to government submissions at both the provincial and federal level, and presented on surrogacy in both French and English.
As Canadian co-coordinator for Women's Declaration International, she argues that surrogacy contracts — which restrict what women eat, where they travel, and with whom they may have sex — represent a surrender, not an exercise, of bodily autonomy.
She co-authored a chapter in Ventres à louer (Wombs For Rent), a 26-author international feminist collection published in France and Canada examining surrogacy as a form of exploitation.
