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, 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. 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.
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.
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