Surrogacy in France: What Are the Options for Intended Parents?

Surrogacy in France is a tall order for intended parents’ hopes of building a family. According to the Supreme Court of Appeal (Cour de Cassation), surrogate motherhood contravenes adoption laws in France. It violates the rules on the inalienability of the human body. This ordinance of 1991 was consolidated as follows: “Any agreement, even if it does not provide for remuneration, whereby a woman agrees to conceive, bear and give birth to a child and then renounce it, is contrary to public order, the inviolability of the human body and the personal status of a natural person.” The same provision was reiterated in the Bioethics Act 94-653 of 29 July 1994. These rules apply only to French national territory and not to other countries.

Surrogacy Cost in France: Expenses Estimation

The complex nature of French legislation towards surrogacy forces aspiring parents to realize their dream elsewhere. Independent issue-resolving, in this case, can make a surrogate pregnancy expensive. Besides travelling expenses, reproductive medical procedures require a fair share of the money. So for the prospective mom and dad in France, the best option is to address a surrogacy agency abroad. It is a perfect option to trim costs and receive full-spectrum support.
Сommonly surrogacy total cost for intended parents cover:

agency assistance
clinic services
legal fees
surrogate remuneration
Choosing a qualified and experienced surrogacy agency can make a third-party reproduction friendly-budget

Legal Issues of Addressing a Surrogate Mother in France

When a child is born abroad, and it is time to take one home to France, another legal confusion occurs. Men have easier access to be entitled as the baby’s father. But what is a mother to do if, in the Fifth Republic, only the woman who delivered the baby is considered to be one? While being a presidential candidate, French leader Emmanuel Macron promised automatic recognition of the kinship of parents and children born to surrogate mothers abroad. However, the attempt to revise the law on bioethics had only relative success: all women were now allowed to have IVF in France.

Conditions of Gay Surrogacy in France

The LGBT community also faces difficulties regarding surrogacy options’ accessibility. As was mentioned above, in France, it isn’t effortless to obtain parental rights over the child delivered through surrogacy arrangements. Similar situation with same-sex couples, where one of the partners didn’t donate his/her biomaterial for fertilization. According to the law, adoption is the only way out. The government claims to recognize only a genetic father on a certificate so that the other parent would formally adopt the newborn. It certainly affects female gay couples who conceive through surrogacy, using donor sperm, which implies that neither parent would be the biological father. However, recently the country’s legislature voted for recognizing the intended parents with a child born with surrogacy abroad as a family unit.

Final Thoughts

France has a prohibition policy towards surrogacy. Hoping to experience the happiness of parenthood, the French seek solutions abroad. The best way out of the situation is to appeal to professional surrogacy agencies that help settle all legal issues and make the procedure affordable.

You May Also Want To Know

Why Is Surrogacy Banned in France?

This prohibition is explained by one of the most critical French law principles, the so-called inaccessibility of the human body, according to which a person may not be the object of a treaty or contract. Hence, French law does not distinguish surrogacy from trafficking in human beings. The French often travel abroad to avoid controversy with justice and yet to experience the joy of parenthood.

Is Commercial Surrogacy Legal in France?

In France, the surrogacy arrangement is strictly prohibited by law, whether it is a traditional or a commercial one. Prohibition of the latter mentioned particularly complicates the surrogacy process for intended parents in France because commercial surrogacy is the most convenient way to settle all legal issues regarding the process.

Which Country Is Best for Surrogacy?

If you are an intended parent seeking surrogacy options, you should draw attention to countries in which it is legal. Such are: Mexico, Colombia, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, and the USA. Ukraine is the most popular destination among those listed because local third-party reproductive companies offer affordable price policies and qualified medical assistance.

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