Surrogacy in Belgium: legislation and procedure

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What is surrogacy?

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Legislation in Belgium

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Procedure

1. Finding a surrogate mother: the intended parents themselves are responsible for finding a surrogate mother. It is often difficult to find someone who is willing to do this. Most intended parents look for a surrogate mother in their immediate environment.
2. The screening and fertilization take place in a fertility center. Both the intended parents and the surrogate mother are screened. Not only medical matters will be examined, but also psychological and social circumstances. Afterwards, the fertilization process starts with the surrogate mother.
3. In low-tech surrogacy, the surrogate mother is fertilized through artificial insemination. In high-tech surrogacy, in vitro fertilization (IVF) is needed to implant the embryo of the intended parents in the surrogate mother. If all goes well, the fertilization results in a pregnancy. The surrogate mother chooses which hospital she will give birth in.
4. Once the baby is born, the intended parents become the social parents, but they are not yet legal parents. The intended parents can only adopt the child two months after the birth. Until then, the surrogate mother remains the legal mother. If the surrogate mother is married, her husband is automatically the legal father. The adoption procedure in Belgium quickly takes two years. After that period, the intended parents are the legal parents of the child.

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