Just over a year earlier, Law no. 25/2016 was approved, regulating access to surrogacy and amending Law no. 32/2006 on medically assisted reproduction. Surrogacy is defined as a situation in which a woman carries a pregnancy on behalf of another person and hands over the child after birth, renouncing the rights and duties of motherhood.
Regulatory Decree no. 6/2017 establishes, in particular:
- The reinforcement of the free and exceptional nature of recourse to surrogacy.
- The procedure for prior authorisation by the CNPMA (National Council for Medically Assisted Reproduction).
- The basic framework of the surrogacy contract itself.
- The clarification that, under the parental‑protection regime, the surrogate mother is entitled to parental leave following childbirth.
Although these clarifications are extremely important, especially the last point, they also invite reflection on the notion of the “other person” for whom the pregnancy is carried. The current law still does not include male couples, leaving the legal system in a situation of clear discrimination, failing to uphold the constitutional principle of equality and denying part of society the effectiveness of their right to parenthood.
Rita Duarte | [email protected]