The surrogacyalso known as surrogate motherhood or surrogate motherhood, is a process by which a woman, called a “surrogate mother” or “surrogate mother”, carries a pregnancy and gives birth to a baby on behalf of another person or couple, who will be the intentional or commissioning parents of the child.
This assisted reproductive method can be an option for individuals or couples who are unable to conceive a child on their own due to various medical, biological, or personal reasons. Basically, there are two types:
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Traditional surrogacy: In this case, the surrogate mother is also the biological mother of the baby, since her egg is used for fertilization. The fertilized egg can be the result of sexual intercourse or artificial insemination using the sperm of the intended father or a donor.
Gestational Surrogacy: The surrogate mother has no genetic link with the baby, since an egg from the intended mother or a donor is used, and it is fertilized with the sperm of the intended father or a donor. The resulting embryo is implanted in the surrogate’s uterus using a technique called “embryo transfer.”
SITUATION IN SPAIN
Laws and regulations vary by country and in some cases may be restrictive or prohibit surrogacy altogether.
In Spain, surrogacy is not legal. Law 14/2006 of May 26, on Assisted Human Reproduction Techniques, regulates assisted reproduction treatments in the country, but does not allow surrogate motherhood.
According to this law, the woman who gives birth to a child is always considered its legal mother, regardless of her genetic relationship to the baby. Therefore, any surrogacy contract would be invalid and would have no legal effect in Spain.
In addition, according to the BOE of February 2023, the commercial promotion of surrogacy is expressly prohibited.
In addition to its illegality, the reform of the abortion law approved last February qualifies surrogacy as a form of violence against women. However, it does not establish additional obstacles to registering children conceived abroad.
For this reason, despite the prohibition, some Spanish individuals and couples seek surrogacy in other countries where this procedure is legal. such as the United States, Canada, Ukraine and Georgiaamong others.
However, it is important to take into account that the legality and regulations vary from one country to another and there may be difficulties in the process of recognizing the parentage and nationality of the child born through surrogacy abroad.
HOW MANY CASES ARE THERE IN SPAIN?
Although an exact and official number is not available, surrogacy has been gaining popularity in recent years in countries where this practice is legal and regulated.
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According to the data published by the sociologist Ana Trejo, between 2010 and 2020, Spanish consulates received 2,856 applications for the registration of minors born through surrogacy. Of these applications, more than 2,500 were accepted, which represents almost 88% of them. Probably the number of cases is higher.