An overview of Surrogacy in Canada
Surrogacy in Canada is legal but there are still a few restrictions in place that make it ‘not that much-preferred surrogacy destination’ amongst all International couples.
Canada comes over as the country with the highest happiness index amongst the rest of the world and this is where it attracts thousands of couples from various parts of the globe as medical tourists every year around.
The intended parents are hence advised to go through all the facts and guidelines in advance before getting along with a surrogacy program or service in Canada. You may have to shell out between $85,000 CAD and $90,000 CAD for surrogacy costs in Canada.
Surrogacy law in Canada
Only Altruistic surrogacy is permitted in Canada i.e the intended parents are not allowed to pay any extra monetary compensation to the surrogate mother for carrying the baby via surrogacy. Still, they are required to reimburse the total amount spent by the surrogate mother towards the medical surrogacy cost in Canada and other related aspects.
The surrogate mother in Canada doesn’t get any extra money for the surrogate program as is the case in surrogacy in USA. In case they find any surrogacy agency still charging surrogates then they have to face the consequences which could be imprisonment or a monetary fine.
Guidelines for the best surrogacy agency in Canada
As per the recent ruling by the ministry of health affairs in Canada, the surrogacy agency in Canada Toronto can only offer paid services in regard to:
- Making certain recommendations to the intended parents in regard to the legal assistance required from lawyers, psychologists, fertility clinics, doctors, and hospitals.
- Delivering all kinds of medical and legal counseling services to the intended parents on the course of their surrogacy journey.
- The surrogacy center in Canada offers all kinds of emotional and moral support to couples during the continuation of the surrogacy program.
- The best Surrogacy agency in Canada provides miscellaneous services in regard to the background check of the surrogate mother.
- Any type of support and assistance provided in regard to the accomplishment of documentation and legal formalities during the surrogacy process in Canada.
- Checking the verifying the reputation and background of the IVF clinics the intended parents are going to deal with.
- Assisting the intended parents in regard to their individual medical requirements.
- A surrogacy clinic in Canada places meetings and agreements between the Intended parents and the surrogate mother.
- Offering all the required Logistics support to the intended parents while also managing their travel arrangements from the respective place to the surrogacy clinics in Canada.
- Helping the clients in managing their data in regards to all the expenses they have incurred during their travel to Canada or to the surrogacy agency, right to the place where it is located.
- Acting as a mediator between the intended parents and the surrogate mother for any required communication.
- Assisting and supporting the couples with their pregnancy planning and all the other kind of related activities.
- Facilitating any kind of diagnosing and testing work during the surrogacy process.
- Helping and supporting the couples in regards to the custody of the child after its birth.
- Ensuring all the care and support to the surrogate mother even after the conclusion of the Surrogacy program.
Need to know information for Intended couples seeking surrogacy in Canada
Being an intended parent, your overall journey with surrogacy agency in Canada would bring a lot of challenges and risks during the process. Therefore, staying aware of all of those challenges in advance would help you in keeping it up with them with utmost ease.
- Fertility clinics are required to sign an agreement between the intended parents and the surrogate mother before the commencement of the embryo transfer process.
- As per the Ontario parentage legislation, the same agreement will then be used as proof that the intended parents are the legal parents of the future child.
- The intended parents also need to ensure that the same agreement carries all the required details of their needs and expectations from the surrogate mother during the surrogacy program.
Gay surrogacy in Canada
The Canadian government has recently passed the ‘all families are equal’ act and this further means that the Ontario law duly provides the legal status to all the intended parents irrespective of their sexual orientation. Now, this is something that has brought a new breath of life for all the same-sex parents who were earlier going through the adoption process in order to realize their parenthood dreams in Canada.
Parentage Declaration and Birth registration
Each province in Canada comes with their respective laws and regulation about how the birth of the child needs to be registered in Canada.
Points to ponder about if you are an International couple looking forward to surrogacy in Canada
- The birth registration laws of the state where the child is born
- Existing parentage laws and citizenship guidelines of your own country.
Ontario Parentage Law
- If you are bringing an egg or sperm donor to the surrogacy program, then the egg or sperm donor doesn’t qualify to become the parent.
- An Intended parent doesn’t stay eligible to become a parent by only the virtue of sex.
- During the surrogacy process, the birth of the future child can be registered to the name of four people, and the gestational mother is then required to sign the consent right 7 days after the birth.
- A surrogate agreement is meant for 1) the intention of the intended parents to become the legal parents of the future child. 2) The intention of the surrogate mother is to not become the legal parent of the child.
- A post-birth order coming from the parentage court has to be taken as the final verdict if nothing such is mentioned in the agreement.
- A lesbian intended parent is not required to adopt the partner’s child or seek the parental order in order to be recognized as a parent of the child.