CTV News | December 6, 2025
U.S Border officials denied a Canadian woman entry to the U.S., claiming that her planned travel to a fertility clinic in California to be a surrogate for a U.S. family was illegal – even though her plans to be a non-compensated surrogate are within the laws of Canada and California.
CBC | December 26, 2024
Parental benefits for some Canadian employees require that they provide documentation that they are pregnant, which leaves couples forming families via surrogacy ineligible. So far, efforts to change the policy, or to expand the federal definition of maternity benefits, have not succeeded.
Modern Diplomacy | October 30, 2024
Surrogacy continues to be banned or restricted in many countries, in part due to concerns related to child welfare and exploitation of surrogates. With shifting social norms related to family structure, some countries are reconsidering their regulation around surrogacy.
The Guardian | September 23, 2024
New research that reveals that surrogates are at higher risk for health complications underscores the scarcity of knowledge about risks and outcomes for surrogates and babies, and the need for greater research and regulation.
Al Jazeera | September 6, 2023
The Georgian government is planning to ban compensated surrogacy for foreigners. Some critics point to the conservative political agenda behind the bill. It will likely put pressure on surrogacy industries in the US and Canada and emerging “hubs” in Argentina, Mexico, and Uganda.
Hazlitt | August 30, 2023
Canada’s law on assisted reproduction lacks clear regulations for surrogacy agencies. One company in particular has allegedly engaged in deceptive practices with intended parents, highlighting the “dark side” of the industry and illustrating the need to revisit Canadian law.
Chelsey St. Pierre and Beryl Wajsman | The Suburban | October 22, 2021
Quebec’s family law is finally being updated after three decades with Bill 2, which will aim to legalize contracts signed between a surrogate and intended parents. The bill requires that the surrogate is at least 21 years old and be compensated only for loss of work income and other pregnancy expenses. To protect the surrogate, the intended parents cannot withdraw from the contract once she is pregnant and cannot sue if she decides to abort or keep the child.
Ellen Trachman | Above The Law | July 14, 2021
This case involves a Canadian couple struggling with infertility who had attempted unsuccessfully multiple times to conceive via IVF and surrogacy in India. The husband had an affair with a woman, who later entered an unsupervised surrogacy agreement with the couple. After various attempts to conceive, the woman eventually gave birth to a child with her donated egg and the husband’s sperm through a disputed method. In 2020, she demanded more compensation and parenting time with the child, eventually filing a legal case. So far, the court has classified her as a nonguardian and deemed her request harmful to the child, and the case will go to trial in January 2022.
By Alison Motluk | HeyReproTech | May 26, 2020
In this article, Alison Motluk presents a number of extremely difficult circumstances occurring with international surrogacy arrangements impacted by the COVID crisis. She raises issues of the well-being of babies who are institutionalized or cared for by surrogates as they await their parents in other countries; increased costs for intended parents trying to navigate border closures; and potential legislative changes that would change the international commercial surrogacy landscape in Canada and beyond.
These three articles in The Conversation tackle different angles on the debates surrounding compensation and health care for surrogates and egg providers in Canada.
Paying Surrogates, Sperm and Egg Donors Goes Against Canadian Values by Françoise Baylis and Alana Cattapan
Egg Donors and Surrogates Need High-Quality Care by Françoise Baylis and Alana Cattapan
When Women Are Surrogate Mothers: Is That Work? by Alana Cattapan and Angela Cameron
