There are many countries where it is possible to carry out surrogacy processes, and we must go to one or the other depending on the type of family. However, in certain cases, combined programs are carried out where the IVF treatment is performed in one country and the gestation and birth in another country.
These cases may be due to different causes:
- Better success rates or reliability of assisted reproduction clinics: There are certain countries where the success rates of IVF treatments are more satisfactory. In these cases a combined program can be proposed where the embryo creation and embryo transfer will take place in one country, while the pregnancy and birth will take place in the country of origin and residence of the pregnant woman.
- Economic costs: In certain countries the cost of an assisted reproduction treatment can be very high and that is why two countries are combined, where the creation of embryos and assisted reproduction treatment will be carried out in one country, while the follow-up of the gestation and birth of the baby will take place in another, this being the country of origin of the pregnant woman.
- Legal limitations: There are certain countries with great possibilities in terms of assisted reproduction treatments, while, on the other hand, certain families cannot carry out a surrogacy process in that country, since their legislation does not allow it for certain family forms.
The three options mentioned above are models that are put into practice in the surrogacy process. While the first two options are valid and respectable, the third option may entail certain legal problems and may lead to what is known as “forum shopping”. That is, we would be taking advantage of private international law to take advantage of the forum that best suits our interests, depending on the stage of the process in which we find ourselves. In addition, this entails great risks for both the commissioning parents and the pregnant woman, whose rights could be jeopardized.
Finally, there are also cross border programs where the surrogate mothers reside in a certain country where surrogacy is not allowed, moving to a different country towards the end of the pregnancy to give birth in a jurisdiction favorable to surrogacy. These practices should be rejected outright as they jeopardize the rights of all parties and, more specifically, those of the women who lend themselves to gestate the child of others who may find themselves stranded, far from their homes and families at such a crucial moment as childbirth.
Since it is known that there are unethical practices in surrogacy, it is increasingly necessary to have a regulation that allows to protect the rights of all those involved in the processes in order to ensure respect for the pregnant women, the newborns and the intended parents.
We receive numerous inquiries about cross border programs and from families who are already immersed in processes that may jeopardize the determination of the filiation of their children because they do not have the correct legal advice from the beginning.
The most important aspect in a surrogacy process is the legal aspect, because, with it we will guarantee the respect of the rights of all the parties and we will avoid problems that may affect the newborns after birth, being able to turn them into full Spanish citizens without bureaucratic and/or legal obstacles. However, for this it is necessary to have a correct legal planning that must begin even before selecting the country of destination and the agency with which you decide to work.
