When a woman agrees to carry a child for another woman with the intention of surrendering the child at birth. There are two types of surrogacy: genetic (the surrogate is genetically related to the child) and gestational (the surrogate carries the fetus but is not genetically related to it). In terms of surrogacy arrangements, there are altruistic (no payment) and commercial (payment) arrangements.
Surrogacy is most often used to allow women who are unable to carry a child, but whose eggs are viable, to have a genetically-related child. Many surrogacies involve no financial considerations between the parties involved. In other cases there may be an agreement to compensate the surrogate for expenses and, perhaps, lost wages, involved while carrying the child.
In the United States, the issue of surrogacy was widely publicized in the case of Baby M, in which the surrogate and biological mother of Melissa Stern ("Baby M"), born in 1986, refused to cede custody of Melissa to the couple with whom she had made the surrogacy agreement. The courts of New Jersey eventually awarded custody to Melissa's biological father William Stern and his wife Elizabeth Stern, rather than to the surrogate Mary Beth Whitehead.
Country | Region | Surrogacy |
Argentina | Latin America | no policy |
Australia | Oceania | commercial prohibited; unrecognized |
Austria | Europe | PROHIBITED |
Belgium | Europe | no policy |
Brazil | Latin America | no policy |
Canada | Northern America | commercial prohibited |
China | Asia | PROHIBITED |
Columbia | Latin America | no policy |
Croatia | Europe | no policy |
Czech Republic | Europe | no policy |
Denmark | Europe | commercial prohibited; unrecognized |
Ecuador | Latin America | no policy |
Egypt | Africa | no policy |
Finland | Europe | PROHIBITED |
France | Europe | PROHIBITED |
Germany | Europe | PROHIBITED |
Greece | Europe | commercial prohibited |
Hungary | Europe | permitted |
India | Asia | commercial allowed |
Israel | Asia | commercial prohibited |
Italy | Europe | PROHIBITED |
Japan | Asia | unrecognized |
Jordan | Asia | no policy |
Latvia | Europe | PROHIBITED |
Malaysia | Asia | no policy |
Morocco | Africa | no policy |
Netherlands | Europe | commercial prohibited |
New Zealand | Oceania | commercial prohibited; unrecognized |
Norway | Europe | PROHIBITED |
Peru | Latin America | no policy |
Philippines | Asia | no policy |
Poland | Europe | PROHIBITED |
Portugal | Europe | no policy |
Romania | Europe | no policy |
Russia | Europe | commercial allowed |
Singapore | Asia | PROHIBITED |
Slovenia | Europe | PROHIBITED |
South Africa | Africa | no policy |
South Korea | Asia | no policy |
Spain | Europe | unrecognized |
Sweden | Europe | PROHIBITED |
Switzerland | Europe | PROHIBITED |
Taiwan | Asia | PROHIBITED |
Thailand | Asia | no policy |
Tunisia | Africa | PROHIBITED |
Turkey | Asia | PROHIBITED |
Ukraine | Europe | commercial allowed |
United Kingdom | Europe | commercial prohibited |
United States of America | Northern America | no policy |
Uruguay | Latin America | no policy |
Venezuela | Latin America | no policy |
Vietnam | Asia | PROHIBITED |
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