1. Is surrogacy regulated by a specific law in your country? Yes.
The main legal documents regulating surrogacy in Greece are Law 3089/2002, Law 3305/2005, Law 4272/2014 and the Civil Code (Articles 1455-1460).
The first of these laws (L.3089) concerned questions of kinship and inheritance whereas the second law (L.3305) concerned conditions for the establishment and operation of medically assisted reproduction units and cryopreservation banks. Equally important, the second law also provided for the establishment of an independent national authority as well as for criminal and administrative sanctions in the event of violations of the law.
Specifically as regards surrogate motherhood, Article 8 of L. 3089/2002, in order to safeguard the practice of surrogacy, initially provided that only women who have their permanent residence in Greece could act as gestational carriers or commissioning mothers. The new provision included in L.4272 broadens this possibility extending it to women who either have permanent or temporary residence in Greece, without specifying the duration of residence. Although the prohibition of commercial surrogacy still remains in place, the amendment indirectly facilitates “commercial” surrogacy, opening up the market for putative carriers and commissioning mothers from abroad.
2. Is surrogacy regulated in another way? (please specify) No.
3. Has surrogacy been the subject of jurisprudence/court cases in your country? Yes, because court authorization is required before establishing surrogacy (Civil Code, Article 1458).
It should be of note that Greek legislation permits only partial surrogacy: the woman who carries the child cannot be the one from whom the oocytes are provided.
4. Is there a legal definition of the term “surrogacy”? (please specify) According to Article 1458 of the Civil Code, the definition of surrogacy is given as follows: The transfer of fertilized ova to another woman and pregnancy by her.