Olivia Maurel

Olivia Maurel is a French-Swiss-American author, international speaker, and spokesperson for the Declaration of Casablanca, a coalition of experts advocating for the universal abolition of surrogacy.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky through a commercial surrogacy arrangement, Olivia spent much of her childhood sensing that something about her origins had been hidden from her. At seventeen, she discovered she had been born through surrogacy. Years later, after taking a DNA test, she reconnected with her biological family and eventually with the woman who carried and gave birth to her. That experience profoundly reshaped her understanding of identity, motherhood, separation, and belonging.

Today, Olivia is one of the first internationally recognized adults born through surrogacy to publicly speak about the lived experience of being intentionally separated from one’s birth mother. Her work focuses on the human rights implications of surrogacy, the commodification of women’s bodies and children, and the psychological consequences of reproductive separation.

She has spoken before the United Nations, the European Parliament, and numerous national institutions and universities across Europe and Latin America. Her advocacy has contributed to growing international debate surrounding surrogacy, children’s rights, and reproductive markets.

Her memoir, In Search of My Mother, intertwines personal testimony with ethical and political reflection. Through her own story, marked by identity struggles, addiction, trauma, motherhood, and healing, Olivia offers a rare perspective from the child at the center of the surrogacy debate.

She lives in France with her husband and their three children.

Ebook will be available on publication date