Surrogacy in Greece

Assisted Reproduction was first made known to the general public back in 1978 when the first child was born in the UK using IVF. Since then, medical innovation and progress has helped intended parents with medical issues, such as infertility, to become parents whilst at the same time creating the need to regulate the emerging new family relationships, such as those through surrogacy.

Surrogacy is considered as one of the most controversial issues not only in the field of Assisted Reproduction but also in regards to bioethics, religion and social acceptance. In many European countries the process of becoming a parent through surrogate motherhood is explicitly prohibited.

In simple terms, infertile maternity is the case where a woman wishing to have a child (intended mother) “borrows” the other woman’s womb (surrogate) into whose womb the fertilized egg is transferred. The egg can either belong to the intended mother or a donor. Please note that the Greek legislation forbids the so-called “full substitution”, the egg of the embryo cannot belong to the surrogate, preventing the surrogate from carrying her own genetic material (egg) and any mental implications or legal restrictions this may cause.

In several European countries, surrogate motherhood is considered invalid either because the law explicitly prohibits this (for instance in France surrogacy is considered to be contrary to public policy and involves both civil and criminal penalties, also in Bulgaria, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Italy), or because the object of the agreement is considered to be unlawful or contrary to morality (as is the case in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Other member states do not include a specific legislative provision for surrogacy (such as the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia), while others prohibit commercial surrogacy but do not regulate altruistic surrogacy (Denmark, Hungary, Ireland and Latvia).

In the Netherlands, altruistic surrogacy is permitted under very strict conditions, practically only for heterosexual couples in one of 18 authorized clinics, and criminal penalties for some aspects of surrogacy are also provided for.

In Sweden, on the other hand, there is no specific legislation.

Ukraine has one of the most favorable legislative frameworks for surrogacy and is one of the most popular medical tourism destinations in this field.

The United Kingdom does not have a law on altruistic surrogacy, and such agreements are not enforced, but regulates the determination of the legal parents of the child born through surrogacy. There is also a legal framework for children born abroad through surrogacy.

There is no federal legislation in the US, and surrogacy is a publicly addressed issue.

Greece is the only EU country which has a specific and clear legislation in regards to surrogacy, immediatly recognising the child born as that of the intended mother.

In Greece, the medical framework in regards to medically assisted reproduction and IVF is governed by Laws 3089/2002 and 3305/2005, with their most recent ammendments of 2014.

Specifically surrogacy in Greece is permitted under Articles 1456, 1458 of the Greek Civil Code, provided that certain conditions are met, allowing married couples, partners with a free union contract or even single women to become parents.

According to the Greek legislation the Application for surrogacy can only be filled to the Court by the legal representative of the intended mother, raising concerns in regards to male discrimination, going against Article 4 of the Greek Constitution. An interpretation of the reasoning behind this decision would reflect the current moral and social perceptions in Greece.

Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that two Applications filled by the legal representatives of male applicants have been granted, although one has been nulled after the involvement of the Prosecutor’s office.

Some of the requirements of a surrogacy application include that the partner or husband, if any, of both the applicant intended mother and the surrogate consent in moving forward with surrogacy. According to the original Law 3089/2002 both also need to be residents in Greece, which a 2014 modification states that, to-date, it is sufficient for the applicant or the surrogate to be resident(s) or have temporary residence(s) in Greece, simplifying for intended parents to fulfill their journey in Greece. This is a welcoming approach towards surrogacy when compared with other European member states and the US. [Read Article: Main requirements for surrogacy in Greece]

According to the Greek legislation, a child born after the Court’s permision is considered the legal child of the applicant mother and her spouse, if applicable. (Article 1464 of the Greek Civil Code “In the case of artificial insemination, if the pregnancy was carried out by another woman under the terms of Article 1458 Civil Code, the mother of the child is presumed to be the woman to whom the relevant judicial license was granted”.)

The 2014 amendment of Law 4272/2014 (Article 17), has made Greece one of the most popular destinations for foreign applicant mothers to become a family through surrogacy, as it combines an established and welcoming legal framework, a stable political scene and low medical and legal costs, combined with state of the art health providers and facilities and a relaxed climate that help the positivity of a child coming to this world.