Here, we explain a little about the experience with surrogacy in Greece to help reveal a few of the things you might expect.
Experience with Surrogacy in Greece: Greek Law
It’s legal for overseas residents – including non-EU citizens – to apply for international surrogacy anywhere in Greece. This has been the case since 2014.
However, this permission comes with the proviso that the process in question adheres to “altruistic surrogacy” criteria and could not be considered “commercial surrogacy”.
The difference between the two is a matter of payment. Altruistic surrogacy involves the surrogate mother volunteering to take part in the process unpaid – although it may be that IPs are required to make contributions to cover medical care and other relevant expenses.
“Commercial surrogacy”, on the other hand, means that the surrogate mother is remunerated for her time.
In Greece, IPs can only be members or a heterosexual couple or single female applicants. Donor embryos can be used if required, although this has been known to complicate a child’s passport application process.
The team at Global Surrogacy are aware of the challenges facing IPs regarding documentation and will be on hand to support you throughout this process and beyond.
Surrogate Screening in Greece
In Greece, all surrogates are thoroughly screened and must undergo comprehensive medical testing – including psychological checks – to make sure they are a good fit for the programme. Surrogates are selected by medical professionals on behalf of IPs.
Surrogate mothers in Greece must have a child of their own already.
Greek Surrogacy: The Court Approvals Process
Greek law requires IPs to obtain court approval before embryo transfer can be undertaken. The surrogate’s spouse, if she has one, must consent to proceedings and the surrogate waives the capacity to renege on her agreement following embryo transfer.
Generally, IPs are not required to attend court. The legal proceedings involved usually take a maximum of 3 months, but it is common for the process to be slightly shorter than this.
Global Surrogacy will help you to communicate with lawyers and medical professionals in Greece to make sure that court approval is obtained swiftly and with no setbacks.
A child born as the result of Greek surrogacy is automatically granted the same citizenship as the IPs, making this process relatively smooth.
There is currently no significant wait time to begin the surrogacy process in Greece. Global Surrogacy works closely with Greek specialists to ensure that every step of the IPs’ surrogacy journey is smooth, stress-free and totally transparent.
To find out more about surrogacy in Greece, please contact the friendly and knowledgeable team at Global Surrogacy today. We also handle surrogacy in Colombia, surrogacy in Georgia, surrogacy in Mexico and surrogacy in Ukraine as well as California and Texas in the US.