Surrogacy Law

Indian courts are the most surrogacy-friendly in this part of the world.Commercial surrogacy has been legal in India since 2002. Since there is no specific law with regard to Surrogacy or Assisted Reproductive Technique in India, 'Surrogacy agreement' is the only foundation which governs the parties to Surrogacy. Therefore the Intended Parents are required to devote attention to have a perfect agreement in place, so that the surrogacy agreement is not held void or voidable in the court of law. As in every agreement, each party to a surrogacy agreement should express his/her purpose and situations, the need for surrogacy, free will of the surrogate, details about the surrogate and the terms on which the surrogate agrees to gestate the child etc.

We arrange for a Surrogacy Agreement to be signed between the Intended Parent(s) duly Notarized by a lawyer to which the clinic will be a witness. This service is offered within the Surrogacy package. Any additional legal services, if required can be arranged for you at extra costs. We would highly recommend that you contact your Embassy/Consulate regarding the procedures to be followed for the issuance of Exit Visa foryour baby after birth so that you do not face any problems in taking your baby back home, which is solely your responsibility. We believe in complete transparency  and for that there would be total of 6 contracts between IP, SM(Surrogate Mother) , her husband and IVF Centre.

Surrogacy Laws in other Countries

India :

Commercial surrogacy is legal in India, as recognized by the Supreme Court of India in 2002. India is emerging as a leader in international surrogacy and a destination in surrogacy-related fertility tourism. The birth certificate of the surrogate child should contain the name(s) of the commissioning parent(s)/genetic parents only.

Ukraine :

Surrogacy is absolutely legal in Ukraine but unfortunately not for singles or same-sex couples- a marriage certificate is required to be shown. Even if a donation program took place and there is no biological relation between the child and intended parents, their names will be on Birth certificate (Clause 3 of article 123 of the Family Code of 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.

Hungary :

Commercial surrogacy is illegal in Hungary.

Iceland :

All surrogacy arrangements (both commercial and altruistic) is illegal.

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).

Canada :

Canada allows surrogacy and it is governed by the Assisted Human Reproduction Act - and it outlines that all expenses that are contributed to the surrogacy can be paid to the surrogate by the intended parents. Expenses must be accompanied with receipts.

Georgia :

According to Georgian law, the Intended or Biological Parents will be registered as the parents of the child. Even if an egg donor or a sperm donor is used, the Intended Parent/s will be deemed as the legal parents of the child.

Italy :

All surrogacy arrangements (both commercial and altruistic) is illegal.

United Kingdom :

Commercial surrogacy arrangements are not legal in the United Kingdom. The surrogate mother is responsible for registering the birth, and she is recorded as the child’s mother. If she is married, her husband is recorded on the birth certificate as the father. If the surrogate mother is in a civil partnership, her same sex partner is recorded as the second ‘parent’. If the surrogate mother is single, the intended father (or whoever else is the second parent) can be named on the birth certificate, although he must attend the birth registration in person together with the surrogate mother. In such cases, it is also sometimes possible to give the intended mother (or non biological father for gay couples) a limited form of legal recognition (known as parental responsibility) by signing a court form after the birth is registered, which gives some additional security before a parental order is granted.

New York :

It is illegal to hire a surrogate in New York, and even embryonic transfers may not be done in New York. All surrogacy agreements, regardless of the sexual orientation of the individuals involved, are void and unenforceable under New York law.

Australia :

In all states in Australia (except Tasmania which bans all surrogacy under the Surrogacy Contracts Act 1993), altruistic surrogacy has been the only recently recognized surrogacy that has become legal. However, in all states and the Australian Capital Territory arranging commercial surrogacy is a criminal offense. Since 1 June 2010 in Queensland, altruistic surrogacy is legal under the Surrogacy Act 2010 No 2. Yet, the commercial surrogacy is still illegal under the legislation.

Israel :

Recently the Israeli Parliament passed legislation regarding all aspects of assisted reproductive techniques, including surrogacy. Surrogates must be single, widowed or divorced and only infertile heterosexual couples are allowed to hire surrogates. The numerous restrictions on surrogacy under Israeli law have prompted some intended parents to turn to surrogates outside of the country.

Surrogacy laws for Gay couples