Countries: China
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"Despite China’s push to boost the birthrate, only married couples with fertility problems can use egg-freezing services or any kind of assisted reproductive technologies" (para 2). "In 2020, the national health commission said that allowing single women to freeze their eggs could give women 'false hope' and encourage them to delay motherhood, 'which is not conducive to protecting the health of women and offspring'. The topic of relaxing the rules around egg freezing is routinely discussed at China’s political meetings but so far the national policy has remained fixed" (para 13). "In 2022, a Chinese court overruled an attempt by Teresa Xu, a single woman, to sue a Beijing hospital...more

Countries: Canada, United States
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"The practice is legal and regulated in 66 countries, although most Italians access the procedure in the US or Canada, where surrogacy is not specified on the birth certificate and where their child can obtain immediate US or Canadian citizenship" (para 7).

Countries: Denmark
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"Law recognizes Co-mothers and not co-fathers, e.g. two men with a child using surrogate mother" (6).

Countries: United States
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"The laws around surrogacy vary widely from country to country and state to state. In the U.S., for instance, the practice is permitted in some states but banned in others" (para 7).

Countries: Ukraine
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"Commercial surrogacy refers to an arrangement in which a woman is paid a fee for carrying a pregnancy for another person or couple. This differs from altruistic surrogacy, in which a woman volunteers to carry a pregnancy without any compensation beyond medical reimbursements. Typically, commercial surrogacy is gestational surrogacy, meaning the surrogate has no biological link to the child... [I]n Ukraine... both forms are legal" (para 5-7). "Until last year, Ukraine was the world’s second-largest surrogacy market behind the U.S., attracting foreign would-be parents with lower fees and a favorable regulatory framework. Crucially, that includes naming intended parents on the baby’s birth certificate, rather than the surrogate mother" (para 13).more

Countries: Georgia
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"Commercial surrogacy refers to an arrangement in which a woman is paid a fee for carrying a pregnancy for another person or couple. This differs from altruistic surrogacy, in which a woman volunteers to carry a pregnancy without any compensation beyond medical reimbursements. Typically, commercial surrogacy is gestational surrogacy, meaning the surrogate has no biological link to the child... In Georgia,... both forms are legal" (para 5-7). "Until last year, Ukraine was the world’s second-largest surrogacy market behind the U.S., attracting foreign would-be parents with lower fees and a favorable regulatory framework. Crucially, that includes naming intended parents on the baby’s birth certificate, rather than the surrogate mother.... The conflict...more

Countries: South Korea
Variables: MARR-LAW-2, ACR-LAW-1

"Same-sex marriage is illegal in South Korea, and unmarried women are not generally permitted to use sperm donors to conceive" (par. 74).

Countries: Turkey
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"Other countries — including Turkey — have administratively barred couples from seeking cross-border surrogacy but have stopped short of passing full-fledged laws" (par. 15).

Countries: Italy
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"Italy on Wednesday passed the West’s most restrictive law against international surrogacy, threatening would-be parents who use birth mothers abroad with jail time and severe fines in a move that critics say will chiefly target same-sex couples. Domestic surrogacy was already banned in Italy, as it is in some other countries and U.S. states, but the amended Italian law goes further, classifying surrogacy as a rare universal crime that transcends borders, like terrorism or genocide" (par. 1-2). "The law, passed last year by the lower house and effectively ensured by the Senate vote on Wednesday, also criminalizes work by Italian citizens employed as doctors, nurses and technicians in foreign fertility...more

Countries: China
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"Under current guidelines, single women are barred from freezing their eggs, with assisted reproductive technologies only available to married women with fertility issues" (para 3). "After China reported its first population drop in six decades amid record low birth and marriage rates, government political advisers proposed in March that single and unmarried women should have access to egg freezing and IVF treatment" (para 5). "Same-sex couples remain barred from marriage and adoption, and surrogacy is illegal" (para 16).

Countries: Mexico
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the practice of womb surrogacy. According to the ruling, surrogates are not to receive compensation for their services, limiting the exchange of money to cover expenses related to the pregnancy. The court also decided that the specifics of legislation regulating the practice would be up to individual states" (par. 1-3). "“Womb surrogacy must always be agreed to through altruistic intent. The court recognizes the legality of the practice but warns against scenarios in which women may be the subject of exploitation,” Said Supreme Court President, Arturo Zaldívar Lelo" (par. 4).

Countries: Kenya
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"There are no strict surrogacy laws in Kenya, and being a developing country, it offers reasonably cheap surrogacy treatment. Kenya is one of the few countries which is legally open for commercial surrogacy" (para 18).

Countries: China
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"[C]hengdu, capital of the southwestern Sichuan province, which legalised registration of children by unmarried women in February, something China is considering implementing nationwide to address record low birth rates. The changes mean unmarried women can take paid maternity leave and receive child subsidies previously only available to married couples. Crucially, Chen could access in-vitro fertility (IVF) treatment legally in a private clinic" (Para.2-3). "Concerned about China's first population drop in six decades and its rapid ageing, the government's political advisers proposed in March that single and unmarried women should have access to egg freezing and IVF treatment, among other services. China's leaders have not commented publicly on the recommendations" (Para.6)....more

Countries: Mexico
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"Recent global events have fueled Mexico’s appeal: The Russian invasion led to the decline of Ukraine’s once-booming surrogacy industry, a growing number of middle-class Americans are seeking a cheaper surrogacy alternative, and a 2021 Mexican Supreme Court ruling struck down a state ban on foreigners and same-sex couples hiring surrogates." (Para.5). "But the surrogacy boom in Mexico has grown faster than the regulations to oversee it, putting both surrogates and intended parents at risk of exploitation. Fertility clinics are loosely supervised, and surrogacy agencies and brokers operate without any oversight whatsoever. The practice is regulated in just two of Mexico’s 32 states—Tabasco and Sinaloa. Two other states explicitly don’t recognize...more

Countries: Denmark
Variables: ACR-LAW-1

"In 2018, it became possible for a single woman or a couple to receive both sperm and eggs from a donor in cases of infertility due to medical reasons (so-called double donation). Especially lesbian couples and single women can benefit from double donation due to their natural need of donor sperm in their treatment" (26).