Who can use surrogacy in Portugal?

According to provisions of these normative acts, it is possible to use gestational surrogacy in Portugal for both Portuguese and foreign citizens in case they have strict medical indications for it, for example, in case of absence of the uterus or any other diseases of this organ, that enables a woman to carry a child (if it is a same-sex couple, both women should be medically unable to carry a baby). Surrogacy services are understood here as a way of treatment and help from woman to woman, so it is possible to use them only in altruistic form for heterosexual and homosexual female couples. These services are not available for single parents (both male and female), as well as for homosexual male couples, as they are not able to carry babies a priori.

Any payments to surrogate mothers are prohibited in Portugal and can cause penalties or even 2 years of imprisonment for the intended parents.

The same situation is with intermediary activity (work of agencies) or performing surrogacy program in any other center that one that was authorized by authorities, all these is forbidden.

What is the surrogacy procedure in Portugal?

According to the Regulatory Decree 6/2017, all couples intending to use surrogacy services in Portugal should send their medical and legal documents to the National Council of Medically Assisted Procreation of Portugal according to a specific list and to get their authorization for surrogacy contract conclusion.

Moreover, there should be some kind of “draft form” of the surrogacy contract with its essential provisions protecting the rights of each side of the contract. The procedure of getting such kind of authorization can take from 3 to 6 months.

Unconstitutional provisions

At the same time, ruling no. 225/2018 of the Constitutional Court of 24 April 2018 declared unconstitutional some rules of the Law of PMA regarding surrogacy (Law 25/2016), which led the CNPMA (National Council of Medically Assisted Procreation of Portugal) to declare extinct all the then underway processes of authorization to conclude surrogacy contracts. So, currently, this procedure doesn’t work.

Regarding donor oocytes, previously, all donors were anonymous. Still, later, the Constitutional Court decided that their data should be available due to the right of children to know their identity. Currently all children born from donor’s gametes have the right to request their data from breeding centers when they reach the age of 18 years old.

This provision makes the process of donor searching much longer and more expensive, as not all donors are ready to be non-anonymous.

In July 2019, the Assembly of the Republic approved a new legislative initiative which, in the process of preventive inspection of constitutionality, was once again declared unconstitutional in two provisions, which led the President of the Republic to return the Decree to the Assembly of the Republic, without promulgation.

Is surrogacy in Portugal legal or not?

In conclusion, for the moment, there is no legal framework that regulates surrogacy in Portugal, so the practice of this technique is not legal.

Portuguese citizens should find options abroad for their infertility treatment until the surrogacy law is established. We want to encourage you to learn more about our surrogacy programs in Belarus.

Don’t hesitate contacting us if you have any further questions, we will be happy to help!