Families and Couples

Having a Child with the Help of a Surrogate

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Some people who want to have children may face a variety of obstacles or challenges including fertility issues, high-risk pregnancy, or other health problems. There are ways to overcome these challenges, including getting help from a surrogate. Surrogacy can bring with it some of its own questions and complications. Before getting started, learn about what’s involved.

Family spending time together with their newborn child.

Surrogacy must respect certain legal rules

A couple who is married, in a civil union, or in a common-law relationship can use surrogacy to become future parents, also called “intended parents”. It’s also possible for a single person to get help from a surrogate to have a child.

You can get help from a surrogate and become the child’s legal parent or parents if you follow certain rules. If you don’t respect these rules, the person who gives birth to the child may be recognized as the child’s legal parent. The relationship between a child and their legal parent is called filiation.

Choosing a surrogate

Your surrogate must be at least 21 years old when they sign a surrogacy agreement with you.

You can choose a surrogate that’s living in Quebec or one that lives outside the province. But your choice has an impact on the steps you will need to take later to be recognized as the child’s legal parent.

If your surrogate lives in Quebec, you can be recognized as the child’s legal parent without going to court.

If your surrogate lives outside of Quebec, a court must recognize you as the child’s legal parent.

Also, a surrogate outside of Quebec must be living in one of the seven Canadian provinces that the Quebec government has approved for surrogacy agreements. These provinces are Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.

You can conceive the child using your own genetic material or the genetic material of the surrogate or a donor. But if the surrogate is your sibling, child, parent or grandparent, you can’t combine your genetic material with theirs.

Before the pregnancy

You must have a written agreement with your surrogate before you move forward with your plans. This agreement is called a surrogacy agreement.

Before you sign the agreement, you must attend a psychosocial information session. You can do this session with a professional like a psychologist, a family therapist, a midwife or a sexologist. The goal is to make you aware of the psychological and social implications of using a surrogate.

Your agreement must respect certain requirements to be valid:

  • The agreement must be between the person who will give birth to the child and the child’s future parent or parents.
  • You must be living in Quebec for at least one year.
  • The agreement must be signed in the presence of a notary.
  • The agreement must be signed before the pregnancy begins.

When your surrogate lives outside Quebec, you must respect additional requirements and follow a specific approval process through the Ministère de la Santé et des services sociaux (MSSS or Quebec’s department of health and social services):

  • You must get approval from the MSSS before moving forward with the pregnancy.
  • Among other things, the MSSS must approve your surrogacy agreement before you sign it.

During the pregnancy

You can’t pay your surrogate to carry your child. But you must reimburse them for certain expenses, like medication and costs related to giving birth. You also need to reimburse them for lost income if they need to miss work because of the pregnancy.

When the surrogate lives outside Quebec, you must also inform the Ministère de la Santé et des services sociaux when the pregnancy starts and when the child is born, or when the pregnancy ends for some other reason.

The surrogate can change their mind

The surrogate can change their mind and decide to keep the child, even though you all signed a surrogacy agreement. The surrogate must confirm whether they intend to follow through with the agreement and give you the child during the 7 to 30 days after the birth. This also means that they can change their mind and decide to become the child’s legal parent instead.

The surrogate can also choose to have an abortion and end the pregnancy. In Quebec, abortion is free and legal throughout pregnancy.

Important!

Only the surrogate can change their mind. As a future parent, you aren’t allowed to change your mind and decide to give the child to the surrogate.

Are you a surrogate or has someone asked you to be one? We have an article specifically for you: Becoming a Surrogate in Quebec