Norwegian television personality Harald Rønneberg, 53, has spoken publicly about the surrogacy arrangement that made him and his wife, Sølvi Haugland, parents to their son Ludvig in 2015, Nettavisen reports. The couple turned to a surrogate mother in the United States after several years of struggling to have a child, and chose the US because they felt safest there, according to the outlet. Rønneberg discussed the decision in an episode of Solveig Kloppen's podcast "Min barneoppdragelse" this week.
Why it matters
Surrogacy remains a contested subject in Norway and elsewhere, and public figures who have used it rarely address it at length. Rønneberg's remarks, as reported by Nettavisen, offer a rare first-person account from a Norwegian celebrity about building a family through a surrogate abroad — and about the relationship that continued after the child was born.
His comments also touch a recurring argument in the debate: whether having children is a right. Rønneberg rejects that framing from both directions, and his answer, as quoted by Nettavisen, is pointed.
A close bond with the surrogate
According to Nettavisen, Rønneberg said the family remains in close contact with the surrogate mother years after Ludvig's birth. He described the relationship as very close, noting that Haugland and the surrogate, whom he named as Katie, share a particularly tight bond. The family refers to the surrogate and her household as their American family, he said in the podcast episode.
Rønneberg also said he and his wife have been open with their son from the beginning. They have told Ludvig that he was born in the United States and have spoken to him about Katie, according to Nettavisen's account of the episode.
The disclosure places the family's story in a category that is still unusual in Norway: parents who are transparent with their children about the circumstances of a surrogate birth and who maintain an ongoing relationship with the surrogate herself.
Rønneberg pushes back on the debate
When the podcast host asked how he views the surrogacy debate — including the argument that having children is not a human right — Rønneberg said he has deliberately stayed out of it, Nettavisen reports. He called that position unsympathetic and turned the argument around, saying that not having children is not a human right either. In his view, the claim does not hold up as an argument.
Rønneberg framed the matter as two people who want to have a child together out of love, according to Nettavisen. He also acknowledged that practices around surrogacy have changed since the 1950s and said he fully understands that some processes of this kind have not gone well.
That acknowledgment stops short of endorsing any specific regulation or criticizing the industry. Rønneberg did not, in the reported remarks, address commercial surrogacy arrangements in general, the legal status of surrogacy in Norway, or the ethical questions raised by critics beyond the "human right" argument he was asked about.
A long road to parenthood
Nettavisen reports that the couple's path to becoming parents involved several years of difficulty and that they weighed multiple options before settling on a surrogate in the US. The outlet does not detail the other alternatives they considered or the medical circumstances behind their decision.
Rønneberg is a well-known figure in Norwegian broadcasting, and his decision to discuss the subject on a parenting podcast rather than in a news interview shaped the tone of the conversation. The episode focused on his experience as a parent, with the surrogacy discussion arising from the host's questions rather than from a prepared statement.
The story also reflects a broader pattern: Norwegian couples who pursue surrogacy often do so abroad, and the US is among the destinations they consider. Nettavisen's reporting does not examine Norwegian law on the practice, and this article does not either; the outlet's account is limited to the couple's own experience and Rønneberg's comments.
What the reporting does establish is that the arrangement has not ended with the birth. The ongoing contact between the two families, and the parents' openness with their son, are the elements Rønneberg chose to emphasize when given the chance to explain his choice.
What to watch
The full episode of "Min barneoppdragelse" with Solveig Kloppen is available now, and any further response from Rønneberg — or from others in the Norwegian surrogacy debate — would follow from there.
