Surrogacy is a situation in which a woman agrees to gestate the child of another woman, A surrogate mother is a woman who carries an embryo for a childless couple in which the woman is not biologically able to fall pregnant.

In this case, the surrogate mother becomes pregnant with an embryo that is the result of IVF using the eggs and sperm of the couple or an anonymous donor. The role of the surrogate mother is very important, but clearly procedural, meaning that she carries the embryo without being biologically related to it.

Clearly, surrogacy in Greece is a one-way street for women who cannot become pregnant for medical reasons. It mainly concerns women who have undergone hysterectomy, radiotherapy or chemotherapy, suffer from chronic disease (e.g. kidney disease, heart conditions, etc.), run a higher risk of miscarriage or have a history of multiple miscarriages, suffer from congenital absence or malformation of the uterus, or have multiple fibroids. However, menopause is not an indication for surrogacy.

Surrogacy in Greece – Legal famework

For a couple to have a child through surrogacy in Greece, certain condition must be met by both sides.

For the surrogate mother:

• She must be of sound health.
• She must be willing to sign a private agreement between herself and the future parents and fully abide by its terms.
• She must have her husband’s consent if she is married and said consent must be submitted in writing in the upcoming court hearing.
• She must be permanent resident of Greece.
• The eggs that will be fertilized must not belong to her, so as to avoid any future maternity disputes over the child she will bring to life.

For the woman who wants to become a mother:

• She must be younger than 45 years.
• Her husband must agree with the surrogacy.
• She must have proven health problems that do not allow her to become pregnant.
• She must surrender her eggs in the context of IVF treatment. If deemed necessary for medical reasons, donor eggs may also be used.
• She, along with her husband, must cover all of the surrogate mother’s expenses.