The vast majority of the world's countries do not have legal frameworks regulating surrogacy. For countries with legal frameworks, some ban commercial (i.e. for profit) surrogacy and regulate the legal contract in altruistic (e.g. reimbursement of expenses) surrogacy. Other countries legalize, or ban, both forms.
Often, there are age requirements and medical evaluations for the surrogate to be eligible for surrogacy. Some countries have different legal statuses between gestational, where the surrogate is not an intended parent, and traditional, where the biological mother carries the child. Most jurisdictions in the world give full legal rights for the surrogate to keep the child after birth, with notable exceptions being Georgia, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine. Fertile partners, LGBT partners, recently married partners, unmarried partners, or single people may be ineligible to use surrogacy services, despite being legal in their country otherwise. Artificial methods of conception may be excluded or restricted as well.
Of the countries which allow surrogacy, many have residency or citizenship requirements for the intended parent(s) and/or the surrogate. Countries without such requirements often attract persons from abroad, being destinations for fertility tourism. Some countries, like Italy, have banned their citizens from traveling abroad for surrogacy, with punishment of fines, jail time, and/or denying the child from obtaining legal citizenship in the parents' country of origin.
Notable countries that have legally banned surrogacy in both forms include: China, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and Türkiye.
Notable countries with legal frameworks for altruistic surrogacy include: Canada, Cuba, Greece, India, Israel, Portugal, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
Notable countries that have all (including commercial) forms of surrogacy legal include: Georgia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Thailand, and Ukraine.
Within Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the United States, there are varying views of surrogacy between the states/provinces/territories.
International Prohibitions on Commercial Surrogacy Commercial surrogacy, that is, surrogacy where the individual is paid to carry the baby or surrender it to other person(s) is illegal in the European Union, as Article 3 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union states that "In the fields of medicine and biology, the following must be respected in particular: [..] (c) the prohibition on making the human body and its parts as such a source of financial gain"
The Oviedo Convention, ratified by 30 countries, also states at Article 21 "Prohibition of financial gain" that: "The human body and its parts shall not, as such, give rise to financial gain."
Australia In Australia, all jurisdictions allow altruistic surrogacy; with commercial surrogacy being a criminal offense. In New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory it is an offence to enter into international commercial surrogacy arrangements with potential penalties extending to imprisonment for up to one year in Australian Capital Territory, up to two years imprisonment in New South Wales and up to three years imprisonment in Queensland.
In 2004, the Australian Capital Territory made only altruistic surrogacy legal.Parentage Act 2004
In 2006, Australian senator Stephen Conroy and his wife Paula Benson announced that they had arranged for a child to be born through egg donation and gestational surrogacy. Unusually, Conroy was put on the birth certificate as the father of the child. Previously, couples who used to make surrogacy arrangements in Australia had to adopt the child after it was registered as born to the natural mother; rather than being recognized as birth parents, however now that surrogacy is more regular practice for childless parents; most states have switched to such arrangements to give the intended parents proper rights. After the announcement, Victoria passed the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008, effective since 1 January 2010 to make only altruistic surrogacy legal.
In 2009, Western AustraliaSurrogacy Act 2008 passed a law to allow only altruistic surrogacy for couples of the opposite-sex only, and to prohibit it for single people and same-sex couples. In 2010, Queensland made only altruistic surrogacy legal, as did New South Wales,Surrogacy Act 2010 No 102 and Tasmania did the same in 2013 with the Surrogacy Act No 34 and the Surrogacy (Consequential Amendments) Act No 31
In 2017, South Australia passed a bill to allow gay couples equal access to both surrogacy and IVF. The bill received royal assent on 15 March 2017 and went into effect on 21 March 2017.
In 2022, The Northern Territory passed legislation permitting altruistic surrogacy.
A Medicare rebate is not available for IVF treatment for surrogacy.
Belgium In Belgium, surrogacy is not legally regulated, but it is often practiced, including by foreigners. Only altruistic surrogacy is allowed in the country. The future parents pay the surrogate mother only the expenses related to the pregnancy. For example, compensation for food, clothing, medical procedures, and transportation. Usually, parents find a surrogate mother through private contacts or through forums on the Internet.
Since Belgium does not have any specific law regulating the process of surrogacy, in fact, a private agreement between a surrogate mother and future parents has no legal force, and there are no clear requirements for the surrogate mother's health (for example, there is no obligation to undergo medical and mental examinations before entering into the surrogacy process, no age requirements). And more, according to Belgian law, the legal mother of a child at birth is the person who gave birth to the child, even if there is no genetic relationship with the child. The transfer of parental rights to biological parents takes place in court, through adoption.
The surrogate mother must voluntarily transfer parental rights to the child to the biological parents. If the surrogate mother who gave birth to the child does not want to hand over the child to the biological parents for any reason, the law will be on the side of the surrogate mother. There is no guarantee that the court will order the child's forced transfer to the biological parents. In such conditions, the surrogacy process can be complicated and unpredictable.
Brazil Commercial surrogacy is banned by Brazilian law, but altruistic surrogacy is allowed. Nevertheless, the practice is performed illegally throughout the country.
Canada
The Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHRC) permits only altruistic surrogacy: gestational carriers may be reimbursed for approved expenses but payment of any other consideration or fee is illegal.Assisted Human Reproduction Act , 6(1), 12(1)c, 12(2), 12(3)
People's Republic of China Surrogacy is forbidden by Regulation of human assisted reproductive technology law in the People's Republic of China. The Ministry of Health has established "departmental rules" which prohibit medical professionals from performing surrogacy procedures, with violations punished by fines (but not criminal liabilities). In practice, surrogacy arrangements are common in mainland China with an underground market for commercial surrogacy estimated to encompass between 400 and 500 agencies in 2012. Underground surrogacy has grown in the 21st century and has led to significant complications.
Colombia There are no clear rules in Colombia as of today regarding surrogacy and a loophole persists. The current laws applied are those from a natural childbirth. This means the child must be registered with the surnames of the gestational carrier and her partner or spouse, if she has any. Only through a challenging paternity lawsuit before a judge may the commissioning parents be recognized as legal parents, and it may include genetic tests.
In July 2016, a right wing political party, Democratic Center, has introduced for the second time a bill in order to determine the concept of surrogacy and to forbid any types of it.
Cuba Only altruistic surrogacy is allowed after referendum over a new family law passed and is available since September 2022.Hindustantimes: Cuba votes to legalize same-sex marriage, surrogacy , September 2022
Czech Republic Surrogacy is not legally regulated in the Czech Republic and so is generally considered legal.24903-surogatni-materstvi The only mention of the phrase "surrogate motherhood" can be found in § 804 of the law n. 89/2012, where the law designates an exception to the ban of adoption by siblings for siblings carried by a surrogate mother.zakony.kurzy.cz/89-2012-obcansky-zakonik/paragraf-804/
Finland All surrogacy arrangements (both commercial and altruistic) have been illegal since 2007. Commercial surrogacy arrangements were illegal even before 2007.
France In France, since 1994, the article 16-7 of the Code Civil stipulates that any arrangement, commercial or altruistic, relating to procreation or surrogacy is void (without legal effect). It is not sanctioned by the law for the woman who give birth or the sponsoring parents, but legally sanctioned to act as an intermediary to arrange a surrogacy or any tentatives. The French Court of Cassation already took this point of view in 1991. In its judgement the court held that such an agreement is illegal on the basis of articles 6, 353 and 1128 of the Code Civil.Hugh Beale, Arthur Hartkamp, Hein Kotx, Dennis Tallon, Cases, materials and text on contract law, ius commune casebooks on the Common Law of Europe, Hart Publishing, 2002, pp. 302f. casebooks.eu
Germany All surrogacy arrangements (both commercial and altruistic) are illegal. The German Free Democratic Party wants to allow altruistic surrogacy. According to the German Civil Code, the legal mother is always the woman who gave birth to the child.
Georgia Surrogacy is legally permitted in Georgia, making it one of the few countries in the region where intended parents can engage in both altruistic and commercial surrogacy agreements. The legislation, established in the early 1990s, explicitly allows surrogacy for both domestic and international intended parents.
Since 2022, Georgia has absorbed some of the clients from Ukraine, which was the major surrogacy hub in Europe prior to the Russian invasion. Many Ukrainian clinics reopened in Georgia, while surrogates moved there to avoid conflict and due to the favorable legislation and costs.
In 2023, the Georgian government announced some plans to reconsider its stance regarding commercial surrogacy for foreign citizens, however no further action was taken, and all forms of surrogacy remain fully legal, including programs involving egg donor programs, shipped embryos and self-cycles.
Under Georgian law, surrogacy is available to couples that are married or in the domestic relationship for at least one year. Additionally, a surrogate cannot be an egg donor at the same time; however, donor materials can still be used in the surrogacy programs.
The legislation stipulates that surrogates have no parental rights over the child born through surrogacy. Once the child is born, the intended parents are automatically recognized as the legal parents, and the surrogate has no claims to parental rights or responsibilities.
Greece
Law 3305–2005 ("Enforcement of Medically Assisted Reproduction")