# Where to go?



## ladybugmum (Jul 1, 2012)

Hey all, 

I'm new here. After an attempt with ideological surrogacy with someone we met through internet that turned ugly, we are now taking a look towards going abroad for surrogacy with a paid surrogate mom. But where to go? The USA is way out of our league, budget wise, and India is too far for us to go. We are looking for options within Europe. I've been doing some reading: Ukraine, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia? What are our options? And if we'd go somewhere, how would it work?

We are Belgium citizens, so mostly looking for the legal part now first: will we be able to get a passport without frauding. I know that their might not be much Belgians on here, but perhaps Dutch experiences since our law is similar. This part is most important because we will only proceed with this if the legal issues won't be causing us to stay abroad for months and months. 

What I've been reading about Cyprus, that they offer surrogate mothers from your own country? That sounds interesting too, but how will they make sure that they surrogate mother won't keep the baby? There is no way to 'force' her to hand it over. It worries me. Expeccially since the whole 'adoption' after the birth takes over 1 year. And I'm not sure that any judge who should grant the adoption will be happy to hear us paying for the surrogate mother's services. 

I'm very much hoping to find more information. I'm emailing with several clinics too. I just got a mail from Oleg from LVF from Kharkov. He/she emailed that they would want to do a fresh IVF attempt, but we still have a dozen embryos frozen from our previous attempt. Those are in the Czech republic so if we would go ahead with LVF we would want the surrogate to fly to that clinic for the transfer. 

Thank you all for the info already. Very much appreciated. Reading the threads below gives me some info already about your journeys. It gives hope, but also shows that its very complicated and delicate.


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## LouGhevaert (May 18, 2009)

Hi

You are right to think about the legal issues associated with international surrogacy from the start as these are likely to be particularly complex in your case as Belgian citizens.

As I understand it, the Belgian legal position on surrogacy is unclear and fraught with public policy restrictions and there have been a small number of conflicting cases when IP's have sought legal status for their surrogate child in the Belgian courts. This raises all sorts of potential problems for you if you intend to parent your child in Belgium, since there is no guarantee your legal status as parents will be recognized there and you will need to obtain expert legal advice about your options.

You will also need to take great care over citizenship and passport arrangements and check these out very thoroughly. Other Belgian couples have been caught out on this front in the past and this has lead to their child being left stateless and marooned abroad without a passport.

We do have specific laws governing surrogacy in the UK (both in relation to obtaining a British passport and parental status) but these laws will only benefit you if you are eligible - and these are designed to stop 'forum shopping' by foreign nationals and those lacking sufficient links with the UK.  You are welcoming to PM me for more information about this if this helps.

Best of luck

Louisa


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## ladybugmum (Jul 1, 2012)

Thank you for your reply. I've had contact with my laywer here and she confirmed my worries. It will be very difficult after the birth of the baby. And then the Ukraine is not somewhere we would like to stay for a longer period of time to wait for it all to sort. 

Would you know anything about the possibilities of having a British surro as foreigners? The baby will be born in the UK or over here, but what then? The Parental order applies only to UK citizens, right? Or can a foreign couple also apply for a PO when having an UK surro?


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## ladybugmum (Jul 1, 2012)

Hey Sue,

Thanks for your message. I've tried contacting Cyprus-Surrogacy, filled in their form on the website, but have not yet gotten a reply. Its about 2 weeks ago... Should I just be patient or try again?


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## LouGhevaert (May 18, 2009)

Hi

Your status as foreign nationals is likely to create complex legal issues.  UK law will treat a British surrogate mother as the legal mother no matter where in the world she conceives, which means she is then legally and financially responsible for the child, until legal parental rights are transferred to the intended parents by way of a parental order (the legal solution for surrogacy in the UK).  Unless you or your partner are domiciled in a part of the UK, you will not qualify for a parental order and this is likely to be problematic, especially coupled with any concerns you have about acquiring legal status for your child in your home country.

The lack of international harmonization of surrogacy law around the world can (and does) cause all sorts of legal complications for intended parents who enter into international surrogacy arrangements.  This makes it really important to ensure you have a viable legal action plan in place before proceeding. Do feel free to touch base with me directly for further help if you need it.

All the best

Louisa


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