Considering surrogacy outside of the UK (Greece?)

[Trainsoverplanes]

Hi!

I’m 36, single and have a health condition that will more than likely limit my chances of being able to give birth safely. I’m desperate to become a mum and I know that it’s going to be a long and hard process, but I’m more than up for the fight!

I want to start looking at my options as I know things can take years to get moving.

I’m really concerned about surrogacy in the UK, purely because of the baby not being legally yours unless papers are signed after the birth... I’m happy to receive any info or experience of this though as I haven’t ruled anything out just yet!

I’ve been looking outside the UK as well and wondered if anyone had any experience with surrogacy in Greece?

I’m hoping to be able to use my own eggs, so will be looking into that shortly too.

I’m just trying to gather information so that I can get the ball moving :)

Thank you x

You would still need a parental order in the UK.

This is long but worth reading, although it's about a couple and not a single commissioning parent like yourself, and was in the Ukraine, it covers some issues around the baby's passport and the VISAs etc.

www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWFC/HCJ/2018/86.html

Do you have your eggs frozen or would you be using an egg donor and a sperm donor?My understanding is for a UK parental order you would need to be related to the child.

I don't think your legal parental rights can be obtained at birth, not in Greece anyway, they certainly can't be agreed before the birth. It seems the legal rights of the surrogate mother being the legal mother are unavoidable and this link does mention delays.

surrogacylawyers.co.uk/surrogacy-surrogacy-in-greece/

I'm reassured that they mention an interpreter, but this does sound expensive.

Sorry to ask OP, I'm sure you have considered adoption already, is there something that prevents that process from happening? I realise it's expensive and lengthy but judging by the hoops you'd need to jump through it could be a less harrowing, possibly cheaper process and would of course be a dream come true for a existing child.

OP perhaps you might like to listen to some podcasts and hear the surrogate mother's side of the story.
This woman is currently about half way through her pregnancy I believe. She suffered a life threatening pulmonary embolism as a result of the fertility drugs she had to take, and her health is impacted forever.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/venus-rising/id1481872967?i=1000467220094

Another experience of surrogacy, discussing the mother baby bond.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/free-birth-society/id1231912533?i=1000466293377

I think surrogacy is really wrong. There was a thread about it in the feminism chat, really worth a read. An adult child of surrogacy said she felt as though the woman who carried and birthed her 'sold' her. Carrying these feelings has been traumatic for her.

I completely empathise with your desire to be a mother (it's also unlikely I'll be able to give birth safely due to health conditions) but women aren't incubators and surrogacy isn't ever done with the best interests of the child at heart.

I hope you will come back OP but for now I share this from government advice below I looked out for you. I'll be honest, I haven't read the whole thing, but it doesn't mention a single commissioning parent, it refers to 'commissioning couples'.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/261435/Intercountry-surrogacy-leaflet.pdf

Here it does say you can apply as an individual, if you are related to the child, so maybe the above is out of date?

www.gov.uk/legal-rights-when-using-surrogates-and-donors/become-the-childs-legal-parent

Lastly, I mentioned adoption before as I think it is a cheaper option to be honest. I imagine, that by comparison, surrogacy is quicker but the costs associated with it are high, especially all the travel if you go abroad and as we can't travel without quarantining both ways now, and for the foreseeable it would be harder to arrange with time off work.

I read somewhere that flights would go up as social distancing on the plane would still have to be applied for the foreseeable future, I just can't imagine how airlines could begin to do this given the space!

But aside from that, I'm sure you are already doing lots of research, on this as well as the egg retrieval process.

Great idea. Find someone who needs the money to rent their womb and create a child with attachment issues

Sorry if this is a silly question but I presume IVF is out of the question or unlikely to work?

@michaelmelchoir are you aware that advertising in relation to surrogacy is illegal in the U.K? Why are you posting a link to an international surrogacy agency?

Reporting your post now.

Hi Trainsoverplanes, did you look further into this? Kind regards