Skip to content 
Surrogacy for heterosexual couples
We make the impossible possible
Surrogacy Processes for Heterosexual Couples
At GESTLIFE we work with all the countries where surrogacy is legal and the processes can be carried out with full guarantee. Given the length of the information, we will give you a brief summary of the characteristics of each country and the programmes that are carried out in each one. However, we advise you to contact one of our family advisors, without any obligation, and we will be happy to analyse your particular case in order to advise you on the destination that best suits your needs.
Surrogacy is a complicated process in which the most advanced medicine is mixed with the laws of each country (almost always contradictory or incompatible), and different languages and customs. Surrogacy is a complicated process in which nothing can be left to chance. It is not a job for “amateurs” with good intentions but little experience.
Countries that have specific surrogacy legislation
hese countries have specific legislation that develops the right of the commissioning parent(s) to carry out a surrogacy procedure.
These laws transfer the rights over the child from the surrogate to the commissioning parents. These countries have laws drafted by their parliaments, or subsequently modified by rulings of high courts, such as the Constitutional Court, allowing certain people to carry out surrogacy processes.
These are the countries where a surrogacy process can be carried out with all the guarantees.
Click on the icon to see the programs we offer.
Countries that DO NOT have specific surrogacy legislation
Following the premise that what is not forbidden, is allowed, some agencies with few scruples offer distant and exotic destinations where there is no specific legislation on surrogacy.
It is always easy to find a clinic that is willing to carry out the process. After all, the medical side of things is not much of a secret for a fertility clinic. But surrogacy is not only about “creating” a child, but also about guaranteeing that the child will be recognized as our child, and that there will be no legal problems either to leave the country or to have the child in our country.
And this is where the problems begin in those countries that do not have a specific surrogacy law. Because, as there is no law that annuls the rights of the gestational carrier (“the mother is the one who gives birth”, according to most legislation in the world), in favor of the commissioning parents, the gestational carrier in these cases retains all the rights over the child.
In other words, she is the mother to all intents and purposes, and keeps all her rights intact. Therefore, if she wishes, she can prevent the child from being ours, prevent it from leaving the country, or even extort huge sums of money from us. She is the mother and the authorities in her country recognize her as such. We have nothing to do in the courts of her country if anything happens. Therefore, of course, we strongly advise against surrogacy in such countries, as there are no legal guarantees for the commissioning parents, and the most beautiful of adventures can turn into the worst of nightmares.
These are countries like Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Czech Republic or Northern Cyprus.
Countries with specific legislation on altruistic surrogacy
There are two types of surrogacy:
Altruistic gestation:
In countries that only allow altruistic surrogacy, a maximum is set for the compensation that the surrogate can receive, as the law aims to ensure that the surrogate does not enrich herself. These are countries such as Canada or Portugal.
In certain countries, the figure ranges from zero, in Portugal’s previous law (currently annulled by the Portuguese Constitutional Court), to, for example, 20,000 dollars in Greece. Paying a higher amount to the gestational carrier is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment.
Commercial gestation:
Although we do not like this term, it refers to legislation that allows the surrogate to be paid compensation agreed between the parties, without limits.
Hybrid or crossborder programs
Due to the scarcity of destinations where to carry out a surrogacy process for homosexual couples or single men, (although they end up offering it even to heterosexual couples) some agencies “go the extra mile” and create programs that have no guarantee and are doomed to failure. Check our prices for surrogacy.
These are processes that look like surrogacy, but are not. Like the counterfeit of an authentic object, which looks like it, but it is not, and after a while, almost always late, we discover why it was cheaper.
There are countries where there is little or no experience in surrogacy, where there is no law that contemplates the possibility of surrogacy. In the absence of a law, which takes away the rights of the surrogate over the baby, the civil code prevails, so the surrogate will be the mother today and always, and we can complicate our lives at any time. In many of these countries, you have to lie to the authorities in the civil registry, or worse, in court, which is a crime. Not everything that glitters is gold. And it can turn into the worst of nightmares. For these adventures, you do not need to contact a specialized law firm like ours.
