A teacher at a Catholic school in New Jersey has been placed on an administrative leave after she revealed that she is acting as a surrogate for a couple.
Jadira Bonilla, 35, said officials at St Mary School in Vineland accused her of violating her employment contract by participating in the surrogate pregnancy.
“I’m not committing a crime and I’m being punished as if I was, it’s hurtful,” Bonilla told NJ.com. “What I’m doing is to help a family out.”
The school's principal, Steven Hogan, issued a statement to NJ.com saying that Bonilla was a "valued" teacher, but noted that surrogacy was contrary to Catholic beliefs, which "guides our educational principles."
In 2023, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that religious entities — which include schools — are not required to adhere to its discrimination laws if it violates their religious beliefs.
That law was the result of a decade long legal fight brought by a woman who was fired from Kenilworth Catholic school after she revealed that she was unmarried and pregnant.
Catholic doctrine has long been opposed to surrogate pregnancies and other alternative forms of pregnancy, like in vitro fertilization.
Before his death last year, Pope Francis called for a universal ban on surrogacy, calling it "despicable."
Bonilla, who has been with the school for three and a half years, said that there was no mention of a prohibition on surrogacy or in vitro fertilization in her contract or her employee handbook.
“If they’re going to penalize me, then they’re going to have to penalize every female employee that has done IVF to conceive their own children, because it’s the same thing. They go hand in hand,” she told the outlet.
She told NJ.com that she was shocked by the school's response and said she had previously been a surrogate while working at another Catholic school without incident.
Bonilla said she was inspired to become a surrogate at 18 when her cousin was dealing with medical issues that prevented her from carrying her own children.
“I said, ‘Listen, if you ever wanted to have kids, I will absolutely carry them for you,’” Bonilla told the outlet.
Her cousin decided not have children, but Bonilla had already decided by that point that she wanted to help other couples struggling with pregnancy. After she had children with her husband, she joined a surrogacy agency.
Bonilla said she asked for written documentation explaining why she was being put on administrative leave and what part of her employment agreement she was in violation of, but never received a response.
She told the outlet that she loves her job and misses working in the classroom.
Hogan issued the following statement to NJ Advance Media in response to Bonilla's complaints:
“We certainly understand Mrs. Bonilla’s concern. It has been our hope to meet with her to help her fully understand the Catholic Church’s teaching on surrogacy, but that has not happened as of yet. Mrs. Bonilla is a valued teacher and one we hope will one day again teach in our school with the full knowledge of our faith which guides our educational principles.”
