surrogacy laws by country surrogacy laws by country the legal aspects of surrogacy in any particular jurisdiction tend to hinge on a few central questions: are surrogacy agreements enforceable, void, or prohibited? does it make a difference whether the gestational carrier is paid (commercial) or simply reimbursed for expenses (altruistic)? what, if any, difference does it make whether the surrogacy is traditional or gestational surrogacy? is there an alternative to post-birth adoption for the recognition of the intended parents as the legal parents, either before or after the birth? legal regulation of surrogacy in the world: both commercial and altruistic forms are legal no legal regulation only altruistic is legal allowed between relatives up to second degree of consanguinity banned uncertain laws differ widely from one jurisdiction to another. 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. in some countries, such as the united states, canada or australia, laws vary by state/territory. prohibition of 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 29 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. 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 australia 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, 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. 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. quebec law, however, renders all surrogacy contracts, whether commercial or altruistic, unenforceable. 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. 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. czech republic surrogacy is not legally regulated in the czech republic and so is generally considered legal. 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. 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, any surrogacy arrangement that is commercial or altruistic, is illegal or unlawful and is not sanctioned by the law (art 16-7 of the code civil). the french court of cassation already took this point of view in 1991. it held that if any couple makes an agreement or arranges with another person that she is to bear the husband's child and surrender it on birth to the couple, and that she is choosing that she will not keep the child, the couple making such an agreement or arrangement is not allowed to adopt the child. 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. 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. mexico surrogacy, along with ovum and sperm donation, has been legal in the country of mexico since 1992. a donor or gestational carrier has no parental rights over such a child. greece law 3305–2005 ("enforcement of medically assisted reproduction") surrogacy in greece is fully legal and is only one of a handful of countries in the world to give legal protection to intended parents. intended parents must meet certain qualifications, and will go before a family judge before starting their journey. as long as they meet the qualifications, the court appearance is procedural and will be granted their application. at present, intended parents must be in a heterosexual partnership or be a single female. females must be able to prove there is a medical indication they cannot carry and be no older than 50 at the time of the contract. as in all jurisdictions, surrogates must pass medical and psychological tests so they can prove to the court that they are medically and mentally fit. what is unique about greece is that it is the only country in europe, and one of only countries in the world where the surrogate then has no rights over the child. the intended parents become the legal parents from conception and there is no mention of the surrogate mother anywhere on hospital or birth documents. the intended parent(s) are listed as the parents. this even applies if an egg or sperm donor is used by one of the partners. an added advantage for europeans is that, due to the schengen treaty, they can freely travel home as soon as the baby is born and deal with citizenship issues at that time, as opposed to applying at their own embassy in greece. the old regime (pursuant to art. 8 of law 3089/2002), one of the prerequisites for granting the judicial permission for surrogacy was also the fact that the surrogate mother and the commissioning parents should be greek citizens or permanent residents. however, the law has recently (in july 2014) changed and the new provisions of l. 4272/2014 foresee now that the surrogacy is allowed to applicants or surrogate mothers who have their permanent or temporary residence in greece. with this new law greece becomes the only eu country with a comprehensive framework to regulate, facilitate and enforce surrogacy, as according to the explanatory statement of the art. 17 of the l. 4272/2014: "the possibility is now extending also to applicants or surrogate mothers who have their permanent residence outside greece". hong kong (s.a.r.) commercial surrogacy is criminal under the human reproductive technology ordinance 2000. the law is phrased in a manner that no one can pay a surrogate, no surrogate can receive money, and no one can arrange a commercial surrogacy (the same applies to the supply of gametes), no matter within or outside hong kong. normally only the gametes of the intended parents can be used. in october 2010, peter lee, the eldest son and one of the presumed heirs of billionaire lee shau kee obtained three sons through a gestational carrier, reportedly from california. since the junior lee is single, the news attracted criticism on both moral and legal grounds. a vicar general of the territory's roman catholic diocese was critical. in december the case was reportedly referred to police after questions were asked in legco..after a 10-month investigation,department of justice had been decided to end the probe as there was not enough evidence to show that a criminal offence had been committed in this case. iceland all surrogacy arrangements (both commercial and altruistic) are illegal. india as per the surrogacy (regulation) act, 2021, only a couple who has been married for 5 years can opt for surrogacy on medical grounds only. the law defines a couple as a married indian “man and woman” and also prescribes an age-criteria with the woman being in the age of 23 years to 50 years and the man between 26 years to 55 years. the couple should not have a child of their own. though the law allows single women to resort to surrogacy, she has to be a widow or a divorcee between the age of 35 and 45 years. single men are not eligible. as of 4 november 2015, commercial surrogacy for foreign intended parents is not legal in india. those commissioned before 11/4/2015 are reviewed on case by case situation; however, no new surrogacies will be started. before 2015, foreign commercial surrogacy was legal in india. india was a destination for surrogacy-related fertility tourism because of the relatively low cost. including the costs of flight tickets, medical procedures, and hotels, it was roughly a third of the price compared with going through the procedure in the uk. in the case of balaz v. union of india the supreme court of india has given the verdict that the citizenship of the child born through this process will have the citizenship of its gestational carrier. surrogacy was regulated by the indian council of medical research guidelines, 2005. ireland there is no law in ireland governing surrogacy. in 2005 a government-appointed commission published a very comprehensive report on assisted human reproduction, which made many recommendations on the broader area of assisted human reproduction. in relation to surrogacy, it recommended that the commissioning couple would under irish law be regarded as the parents of the child. despite the publication there has been no legislation published and the area essentially remains unregulated. due to mounting pressure from irish citizens going abroad to have children through surrogacy, the minister for justice, equality and defence published guidelines for them on 21 february 2012. part 6 of the general scheme of