Surrogacy

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 foetus 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 publicised 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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