Surrogacy laws by

country

Legal regulation of surrogacy in the world:

Both gainful and altruistic forms are legal
No legal regulation
Only altruistic is legal
Allowed between relatives up to second degree of consanguinity
Banned
Unregulated/uncertain situation

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 surrogate mother is paid
(commercial) or simply reimbursed for expenses (altruistic)?
What, if any, difference does it make whether the surrogacy is
traditional or gestational?
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?

Laws differ widely from one jurisdiction to another.

Contents

AustraliaEdit
In Australia, all jurisdictions except the Northern Territory allow altruistic
surrogacy; with commercial surrogacy being a criminal offense. The
Northern Territory has no legislation governing surrogacy.[1] 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.[2]
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. [3][4]After the
announcement, Victoria passed the Assisted Reproductive Treatment
Act 2008, effective since 1 January 2010 to make only altruistic
surrogacy legal.[5]
In 2009, Western Australia[6] 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,[7] as did New South Wales,[8] and Tasmania
did the same in 2013 with the Surrogacy Act No 34 and the Surrogacy
(Consequential Amendments) Act No 31[9][10][11][12]
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.[13][14][15][16][17]
A Medicare rebate is not available for IVF treatment for surrogacy.

CanadaEdit
The Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHRC) permits only altruistic
surrogacy: surrogate mothers may be reimbursed for approved
expenses but payment of any other consideration or fee is
illegal.[18] Quebec law, however, does not recognize surrogacy
arrangements, whether commercial or altruistic.
QuebecEdit
The Quebec Civil Code renders all surrogacy contracts, whether
commercial or altruistic, unenforceable.[19]
ColombiaEdit
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 surrogate mother 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.[20]
In July 2016, a right wing political party, Democratic Center (Colombia),
has introduced for the second time a bill in order to determine the
concept of surrogacy and to forbid any types of it.[21][22]
CzechiaEdit
Surrogacy is not legally regulated in the Czech Republic and is,
therefore, generally considered legal.[23] 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.[24]
FinlandEdit
All surrogacy arrangements (both commercial and altruistic) have been
illegal since 2007. Commercial surrogacy arrangements were illegal
even before 2007.

FranceEdit
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).[25] 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.[26]
Georgia (Country)Edit
Surrogacy, along with ovum and sperm donation, has been legal
in Georgia since 1992. Under applicable law, a donor or surrogate
mother has no parental rights over the child born.[citation needed]
GreeceEdit
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 KongEdit
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 billionnaire Lee Shau Kee obtained three sons through a
surrogate mother, 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.[27]
HungaryEdit
Commercial surrogacy is illegal in Hungary.
IcelandEdit
All surrogacy arrangements (both commercial and altruistic) are illegal.

IndiaEdit
Main article: Commercial surrogacy in India
UPDATE: As of November 4, 2015 commercial surrogacy 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.
(Confirmed by the US State Department
website: http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/service/reporting-births-and-
citizenship-questions/surrogacy-a.r.t.-and-dna-testing
Commercial surrogacy is legal in India.[28] India is emerging as a leader
in international surrogacy and a destination in surrogacy-related fertility
tourism. Indian surrogates have been increasingly popular with infertile
couples in industrialized nations because of the relatively low cost.
Indian clinics are at the same time becoming more competitive, not just
in the pricing, but in the hiring and retention of Indian females as
surrogates. Clinics charge patients between $10,000 and $28,000 for the
complete package, including fertilization, the surrogate's fee, and
delivery of the baby at a hospital. Including the costs of flight tickets,
medical procedures and hotels, it comes to roughly a third of the price
compared with going through the procedure in the UK.[29] In the case of
Balaz v. Union of India the Honorable Supreme Court of India has given
the verdict that the citizenship of the child born through this process will
have the citizenship of its surrogate mother. The Assisted Reproductive
Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2013 was tabled in the parliament but not
passed. Currently surrogacy is being regulated by the Indian Council of
Medical Research guidelines, 2005.
IrelandEdit
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.[30].
IsraelEdit
In March 1996, the Israeli government legalized gestational surrogacy
under the "Embryo Carrying Agreements Law." This law made Israel the
first country in the world to implement a form of state-controlled
surrogacy in which each and every contract must be approved directly by
the state.[31] A state-appointed committee permits surrogacy
arrangements to be filed only by Israeli citizens who share the same
religion.[32] The numerous restrictions on surrogacy under Israeli law
have prompted some intended parents to turn to surrogates outside of
the country. Same-sex couples can enter a surrogacy arrangement
outside of Israel and have their legal parenthood recognized within
Israel.
IranEdit
All surrogacy arrangements (both commercial and altruistic) are legal
and popular. Many couples from middle east do the surrogacy in Iran
due to the legal easiness.

ItalyEdit
All surrogacy arrangements (both commercial and altruistic) are illegal.

JapanEdit
In March 2008, the Science Council of Japan proposed a ban on
surrogacy and said that doctors, agents and their clients should be
punished for commercial surrogacy arrangements.
Netherlands and BelgiumEdit
Altrustic surrogacy is legal in Belgium[33] and the Netherlands.[34] Only
commercial surrogacy is illegal in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Although altrustic surrogacy is legal, there is only one hospital taking in
couples and there are extremely strict rules to get in. This makes a lot of
couples seek their treatment outside the Netherlands or Belgium.[35]
New ZealandEdit
Altruistic surrogacy is legal.

NigeriaEdit
Gestational surrogacy is currently practiced in Nigeria by a few IVF
clinics. The guidelines are as approved by the practice guidelines of the
Association of Fertility and Reproductive Health (AFRH) of Nigeria. The
ART regulation that is currently being considered by the Senate permits
surrogacy and allows some inducement to be paid for transport and
other expenses. [36]
PakistanEdit
Surrogacy is illegal in Pakistan.[37][better source needed]
PortugalEdit
In 2016, Gestational surrogacy was legalized in Portugal. Discussions on
the adoption of this law lasted more than 3 years. The first version of the
law was adopted May 13, 2016, but the president vetoed it. He
demanded that the law contained rights and obligations of all participants
in the process of surrogacy. As a result, the text of the law has been
updated, and now surrogacy is legalized and regulated by law in
Portugal.

The basic rules of the law on surrogacy in Portugal Use the surrogacy
services can only those couples, where the woman can not carry and
give birth to a child for medical reasons. This should be documentally
confirmed. Surrogate motherhood should be altruistic, the woman who
agrees to carry and give birth to a child, shouldnt pay for services. The
written agreement must be necessarily issued between the surrogate
mother and the genetic parents. The rights and obligations of the parties
as well as their actions in cases of force majeure should be included in it.
After the birth, parental rights over the child belong to the genetic
parents. According to the law, the surrogate mother is a woman of child-
bearing age who agrees to carry and give birth to a child for the genetic
parents, and she doesnt lay claim to be his mother.

Traditional surrogacy is illegal in Portugal except for some situations that

give the right for a surrogate mother to be genetic (for example, if the
future adoptive mother is completely barren).

Adoption of the law caused some debate within several Portuguese

Christian Churches, though not among the once dominant Roman
Catholic Church. Representatives of Brazilian and US based evangelical
and pentecostal churches condemn surrogacy and suggest that infertile
couples can/must (depending on the Church) pursue conventional
adoption (national or transnational even though the later is banned by
law).

Heterosexual and Lesbian Couples can become parents via surrogacy in

Portugal as by 2016 all the risks of the program are provided and
regulated by law (for example, the occurrence of developmental defects
of the baby, miscarriage or abortion). Male Homosexual couples and
single men and women of any sexual orientation have not yet been
included, but they are not addressed specifically by the law which leaves
an opening for a future revision in a more encompassing way). One such
revision is on the current manifestos of several parties (the Left
Bloc, PAN - PeopleAnimalsNature and Os Verdes - The Greens).
They can count on the repeated opposition of the populist right party PP-
CDSand the Portuguese Communist Party, the most socially
conservative parties in parliament.
 This means that gay couples are banned from altruistic
[38] [39][40]
surrogacy within Portugal and since the Constitution of Portugal explicitly
bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, this could
be unconstitutional.
Russian FederationEdit
Gestational surrogacy, even commercial, is legal in Russia,[41] being
available to practically all adults willing to be parents.[42] There must be
one of several medical indications for surrogacy: absence of uterus,
deformity of the uterine cavity or cervix, uterine cavity synechia, somatic
diseases contraindicating child bearing, or repeated failure of IVFdespite
high-quality embryos.[41]
The first surrogacy program in Russia was successfully implemented in
1995 at the IVF centre of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Institute in St.
Petersburg.[43] Public opinion in general is surrogacy-friendly; recent
cases of a famous singer and a well-known businesswoman who openly
used services of gestational surrogates received positive news
coverage. Meanwhile, the Russian Orthodox Church has officially
condemned surrogacy. As regards the baptism of the children born
through surrogacy, the Russian Orthodox Church holds that a "child born
with the assistance of surrogate motherhood can be Baptized
according to the wishes of the party that will be raising it, if such are
either its biological parents or its surrogate mother, only after they
have recognized that, from the Christian point of view, such reproductive
technology is morally reprehensible and have borne ecclesial repentance
regardless of whither they ignored the Churchs position consciously or
unconsciously".[44]
A few Russian women, such as Ekaterina Zakharova,[45] Natalija
Klimova,[46] and Lamara Kelesheva,[47] became grandmothers through
post-mortem gestational surrogacy programs, their surrogate grandsons
being conceived posthumously after the deaths of their sons.
Registration of children born through surrogacy is regulated by the
Family Code of Russia (art. 51-52) and the Law on Acts on Civil Status
(art. 16). A surrogates consent is needed for that. Apart from that
consent, no adoption nor court decision is required. The surrogates
name is never listed on the birth certificate. There is no requirement for
the child to be genetically related to at least one of the commissioning
parents.[48]
Children born to heterosexual couples who are not officially married or
single intended parents through gestational surrogacy are registered in
accordance to analogy of jus (art. 5 of the Family Code). A court decision
may be needed in that case. On 5 August 2009 a St. Petersburg court
definitely resolved a dispute as to whether single women could apply for
surrogacy and obliged the State Registration Authority to register a 35-
year=old single intended mother, Nataliya Gorskaya, as the mother of
her surrogate son.[49]
On 4 August 2010 a Moscow court ruled that a single man who applied
for gestational surrogacy (using donor eggs) could be registered as the
only parent of his son, becoming the first man in Russia to defend his
right to become a father through court proceedings.[50]The surrogate
mothers name was not listed on the birth certificate; the father was listed
as the only parent. After that a few more identical decisions concerning
single men who became fathers through surrogacy were issued by
different courts in Russia, listing men as the only parents of their
surrogate children and confirming that prospective single parents,
regardless of their sex or sexual orientation, can exercise their right to
parenthood through surrogacy in Russia.
Liberal legislation makes Russia attractive for "reproductive tourists"
looking for techniques not available in their countries. Intended parents
go there for oocyte donation because of advanced age or marital status
(single women and single men) and when surrogacy is considered.
Foreigners have the same rights for assisted reproduction as Russian
citizens. Within 3 days after the birth, the commissioning parents obtain
a Russian birth certificate with both their names on it. Genetic relation to
the child (in case of donation) does not matter.[51]
Saudi ArabiaEdit
Religious authorities in Saudi Arabia do not allow the use of surrogate
mothers, instead suggesting medical procedures to restore fertility and
ability to deliver.[52]
SerbiaEdit
All surrogacy arrangements (both commercial and altruistic) are illegal. A
draft of the new civil law is said to allow surogacy mother, but Serbian
Assembly still did not adopt this law yet. On April 21, 2017, the Serbian
Assembly started a discussion a legislation on assisted reproductive
technology that bans all forms of surrogacy. (The legislation is being
discussed.)

South AfricaEdit
The South Africa Children's Act of 2005 (which came fully into force in
2010) enabled the "commissioning parents" and the surrogate to have
their surrogacy agreement validated by the High Court even before
fertilization. This allows the commissioning parents to be recognized as
legal parents from the outset of the process and helps prevent
uncertainty - although if the surrogate mother is the genetic mother she
has until 60 days after the birth of the child to change her mind. The law
permits single people and gay couples to be commissioning
parents.[53] However, only those domiciled in South Africa benefit from
the protection of the law, no non-validated agreements will be enforced,
and agreements must be altruistic rather than commercial. If there is only
one commissioning parent, s/he must be genetically related to the child.
If there are two, they must both be genetically related to the child unless
that is physically impossible due to infertility or sex (as in the case of a
same sex couple). The Commissioning parent or parents must be
physically unable to birth a child independently. The surrogate mother
must have had at least one pregnancy and viable delivery and have at
least one living child. The surrogate mother has the right to unilaterally
terminate the pregnancy, but she must consult with and inform the
commissioning parents, and if she is terminating for a non-medical
reason, may be obliged to refund any medical reimbursements she had
received.[54]
SpainEdit
Whereas surrogacy is not legal in Spain (the biological mother's
renouncement contract is not legally valid), it is legal to perform the
surrogacy in a country where it is legal, having the mother the nationality
from that same country.[55]
SwedenEdit
Surrogacy is not clearly regulated in Swedish law.[56] The legal
procedure most equivalent to it is making an adoption of the child from
the surrogate mother. However, the surrogate mother has the right to
keep the child if she changes her mind before the adoption. The
biological father may nevertheless claim the right to the child.
It is illegal for Swedish fertility clinics to make surrogate arrangements.
As an alternative, Sweden sanctioned the world's first uterus transplant
in an infertile woman. The woman was 36 years old.

SwitzerlandEdit
Surrogacy is regulated in the "Bundesgesetz ber die medizinisch
untersttzte Fortpflanzung (Fortpflanzungsmedizingesetz, FMedG) vom
18. Dezember 1998" and illegal in Switzerland. Art. 4 forbids surrogacy,
Art. 31 regulates the punishment of clinicians who apply in vitro
fertilisation for surrogacy or persons who arrange surrogacy. The
surrogate mother is not punished by law. She will be the legal mother of
the child.

On 24 August 2014, the Administrative Court of the Canton of St.

Gallen granted parentship to two men of a child born in the USA.[57]
ThailandEdit
In response to the controversial Baby Gammy incident in 2014, Thailand
since July 30, 2015, has banned foreign people travelling to Thailand, to
have commercial surrogacy contract arrangement, under the Protection
of Children Born from Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act. Only
opposite-sex married couples as Thailand residents are allowed to have
a commercial surrogacy contract arrangement. In the past Thailand was
a popular destination for couples seeking surrogate mothers.[58][59][60]
UkraineEdit
Since 2002, surrogacy and surrogacy in combination with egg/sperm
donation has been absolutely legal in Ukraine. According to the law a
donor or a surrogate mother has no parental rights over the child born
and the child born is legally the child of the prospective parents.
In Ukraine the start of introduction of methods of supporting reproductive
medicine was given in eighties of the preceding century. It was Kharkov
where the extracorporeal fertilization method was for the first time
successfully applied in Ukraine, and in 1991 a girl named Katy was born.
Kharkiv was also the first city in CIS countries to realize surrogacy. Many
clinics dealing with surrogacy have been opened in Kiev[61] and Lviv.
Ukrainian surrogacy laws are very favorable and fully support the
individual's reproductive rights. Surrogacy is officially regulated by
Clause 123 of the Family Code of Ukraine and the order of the Ministry
of health of Ukraine "On approval of the application of assisted
reproductive technologies in Ukraine" from 09.09.2013 787. You can
choose between Gestational Surrogacy, Egg/sperm Donation, special
Embryo adoption programs and their combinations. No specific
permission from any regulatory body is required for that. A written
informed consent of all parties (intended parents and surrogate)
participating in the surrogacy program is mandatory.

Ukrainian legislation allows intended parents to carry on a surrogacy

program and their names will be on Birth certificate of the child born as a
result of the surrogacy program from the very beginning. The child is
considered to be legally "belonging" to the prospective parents from the
very moment of conception. The surrogates name is never listed on the
birth certificate. The surrogate can't keep the child after the birth. Even if
a donation program took place and there is no biological relation
between the child and the intended mother, their names will be on Birth
certificate (Clause 3 of article 123 of the Family Code of Ukraine).

Embryo research is also allowed, gamete and embryo donation

permitted on a commercial level. Single women can be treated by known
or anonymous donor insemination. Gestational surrogacy is an option for
officially married couples and single women. There is no such concept
as gay/lesbian marriage in Ukraine, meanwhile such patients can be
treated as single women/men.

United KingdomEdit
Commercial surrogacy arrangements are not legal in the United
Kingdom. Such arrangements were prohibited by the Surrogacy
Arrangements Act 1985.[62] Whilst it is illegal in the UK to pay more than
expenses for a surrogacy, the relationship is recognised under section
30 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. Regardless of
contractual or financial consideration for expenses, surrogacy
arrangements are not legally enforceable so a surrogate mother
maintains the legal right of determination for the child, even if they are
genetically unrelated. Unless a parental order or adoption order is made,
the surrogate mother remains the legal mother of the child.
United StatesEdit
Surrogacy and its attendant legal issues fall under state jurisdiction and
the legal situation for surrogacy varies greatly from state to state. Some
states have written legislation, while others have developed common law
regimes for dealing with surrogacy issues. Some states facilitate
surrogacy and surrogacy contracts, others simply refuse to enforce
them, and some penalize commercial surrogacy. Surrogacy friendly
states tend to enforce both commercial and altruistic surrogacy contracts
and facilitate straightforward ways for the intended parents to be
recognized as the child's legal parents. Some relatively surrogacy
friendly states only offer support for married heterosexual couples.
Generally, only gestational surrogacy is supported and traditional
surrogacy finds little to no legal support.

States generally considered to be surrogacy friendly include

California,[63] Illinois,[64]Arkansas,[65] Maryland,[66] and New
Hampshire[67] among others.
For legal purposes, key factors are where the contract is completed,
where the surrogate mother resides, and where the birth takes place.
Therefore, individuals living in a non-friendly state can still benefit from
the polices of surrogacy friendly states by working with a surrogate who
lives and will give birth in a friendly state.

ArkansasEdit
Arkansas was one of the first states to enact surrogacy friendly laws. In
1989, under then Governor Bill Clinton, it passed Act 647, which states
that in a surrogacy arrangement, the biological father and his wife will be
recognized as the child's legal parents from birth, even if his wife is not
genetically related to the child (i.e., in a traditional surrogacy
arrangement). If he is unmarried, he alone will be recognized as the legal
parent. A woman may also be recognized as the legal mother of the
surrogate birth mother's genetic child as long as that child was
conceived with anonymous donor sperm.[68] On the other hand, it is
unclear how or whether same sex couples could benefit these laws,
since the 2008 ballot measure that made it illegal for unmarried,
cohabiting individuals to adopt or provide foster care to minors.[69] On
June 26, 2015, the 2008 ballot issue is moot because of Obergefell v.
Hodges.
CaliforniaEdit
California is known to be a surrogacy friendly state.... It permits
commercial surrogacy, regularly enforces gestational surrogacy
contracts, and makes it possible for all intended parents, regardless of
marital status or sexual orientation, to establish their legal parentage
prior to the birth and without adoption proceedings (pre-birth
orders).[70][71]
MichiganEdit
Michigan forbids absolutely all surrogacy agreements. It is a felony to
enter into such an agreement, punishable by a fine of up to $50,000 and
up to five years in prison. The law makes surrogacy agreements
unenforceable.[72]
New HampshireEdit
Since 2014, New Hampshire is recognized as a surrogacy friendly state,
with laws in place to protect all parties to a surrogacy arrangement. All
intended parents, irrespective of marital status, sexual orientation, or a
genetic connection to the child, are able to establish their legal parental
rights through pre-birth orders placing their names directly on the child's
initial birth certificate. Reasonable compensation to the surrogate is
permitted by statute.[73]
New YorkEdit
New York law holds that commercial surrogacy contracts contravene
public policy and provides for civil penalties for those who participate in
or facilitate a commercial surrogacy contract in New York.[74] Altruistic
surrogacy contracts are not penalized, but neither are they enforced.
New York does recognize pre-birth orders from other states, and has
provided a post-birth adoption alternative for altruistic surrogate parents
via orders of maternal and paternal filiation.[75]
LawsuitsEdit
Baby M: New Jersey 1988. The surrogate mother in a gestational
surrogacy arrangement decided to keep the resulting child. The intended
parents sued to have themselves recognized as the legal parents. The
New Jersey Supreme Court found that the surrogacy contract was
invalid as a matter of New Jersey public policy. However, the intended
parents were given custody of the child because the courts thought they
would provide a better home for the baby than the surrogate mother,
who was instead given visitation rights.
VietnamEdit
Surrogacy for humanitarian purposes have been allowed in Vietnam
from 2015 after The amended Family and Marriage Law passed with
nearly 60 percent of votes from the National Assembly.
Under the new law, surrogacy will only be allowed among married
couples,do not have any common child, after doctors confirm the wife
can not give birth even with technical support. The surrogate must be a
relative of either the husband or wife, and have already given birth
successfully. A woman is only allowed to be a surrogate once in her life
and must produce her husbands approval if shes married. The embryo
must be created by the intended parents' sperm and ovum.[76] The
process must be voluntary and follow in-vitro fertilization regulations.