Surrogacy Law in Finland
Surrogacy Is One of the Most efficient options to have a little one! Surrogacy? Yes, Surrogacy! but is it legal in France and Finland? Legislation of the Assisted Fertility Treatment Options has its own tendencies, implemented by the Highest Courts but not always transparently and inclusively interpreted. Therefore, it is essential not only to glance through the legal articles but to understand the consequences of their misinterpretation. What nuances imposed on the whole surrogacy process are envisaged by the current law?
FINLAND
Summary of the Legal Surrogacy Framing: Surrogacy is illegal in Finland. There is no inclusive and conclusive legal framing yet but Surrogacy is regulated by the Act on Assisted Fertility Treatments (1237/2006), entered into force on September 01, 2007.
The legally framed content of Act on Assisted Fertility Treatments that is currently valid in Finland allows all other alternative Fertility Treatment Options to be implemented but excludes completely Surrogacy. It imposes the prohibition on Surrogacy process and surrogate motherhood in an implicit way. There is no strong legal definition for Surrogacy but the Act on Assisted Fertility Treatments (1237/2006) has the prohibitive content concerning Fertility Treatment cycles designed by Fertility Clinics with the following adoption of the newborn. In other words, Surrogacy doesn’t have an inclusive legal framework in Finland.
The Finnish Parliament hasn’t decided yet should the draft version of the Statement concerning Surrogacy in Finland designed by the Ministry of Justice in 2011 be legalized or it shouldn’t. The medical elite is still envisaging the legal framework for Surrogacy and surrogate motherhood that can be permitted by the law. Ethical aspects are still being disputed. The medical criteria should be taken in consideration, especially if the woman doesn’t have a uterus or if the woman has lost her uterus as a result of an illness or an injury, the Surrogacy is the only option.
Following the ethical pattern of decision–taking freedom, the couple wishing for a child should have the freedom of choosing the Surrogacy as their Fertility Treatment option. For severe infertility cases caused by the non–functional uterus or its complete absence, – Surrogacy is the only option to have a baby. And this should be not only envisaged in the draft version of the Surrogacy law but considered when legal framework will be in the status “is being designed.” Not only medical criteria should be included to the legal framework on Surrogacy law. The legal rights of the parties involved in the Surrogacy process (the couple wishing for a newborn, the surrogate mother, and the newborn born by the surrogate mother) must be envisaged by the Finnish law.
If the dispute around the statement concerning Surrogacy Treatment in Finland would lead to consensus, the draft version of Finnish Surrogacy law will be legally and medically reframed. If it is legalized, the negative attitudes to Surrogacy Treatment tendency will be completely “rebranded”, and the Finnish couples will have this option in Finnish Fertility Clinics & Centres.
Inclusive Legal Framing for Surrogacy in Finland:
1. Is Surrogacy regulated by a specific law in Finland?
No, the Surrogacy is not regulated by a specific law in Finland. There is no legal framing for this question yet.
2. Is Surrogacy regulated in another way (by the inclusive–exclusive content fixed in some document) in Finland?
Yes, it is. Legal framing of surrogacy regulation is inconclusively shaped by the Act on Assisted Fertility Treatments (1237/2006), entered into force on September 01, 2007. According to Chapter 2 “Provision of Assisted Fertility Treatment”, Section 8 “Prohibition on provision of Assisted Fertility Treatment” of this Act, there is an exclusive legal criterion taken into consideration by fertility experts that underlines that “Fertility Treatment cannot be provided, if there is reason to presume that the child will be given up for adoption.” It non–transparently indicates on the prohibition of Surrogacy motherhood. The government proposal to the Parliament concerning an act on Fertility Treatments and an act amending the paternity act were designed in the draft versions where Surrogacy motherhood should safeguard the rights of the surrogate mother and the newborn born by her. But there is no conclusive decision on these versions yet.
3. Is there a legal definition of the term “Surrogacy” in Finland?
There is no legal framing for this question yet. The legal framing for defining surrogacy arrangement was proposed by the Ministry of Justice in 2011 in the Statement concerning surrogacy in Finland. This is the proposal only, therefore, in the frame of reference of the currently valid legislation, this definition hasn’t entered into force. Being legally framed in the draft version, surrogacy arrangements are interpreted in this way: “Surrogacy arrangements are the arrangements, where a woman (surrogate mother) becomes pregnant and gives birth to a newborn with the following intention to give away the newborn after the birth and to be raised by another person (intended parent) or couple (intended parents).”
4. Is Surrogacy prohibited in Finland?
Yes, all kinds of Surrogacy are prohibited in Finland. Surrogacy arrangements that involve designing the surrogacy agreements & contracts between the couple wishing for a newborn and the surrogate–mother–to–be wishing to carry their embryo/fetus, performing Assisted Fertility Reproduction techniques by the medical team in Fertility Clinics, designing synchronously the labor& delivery process and documentation for giving the newborn after the birth for adoption are prohibited by Finnish law.
5. Is access to Surrogacy subject to specific criteria (medical criteria or other criteria)?
There is no legal framing for this question yet.
6. If Surrogacy is allowed, is it lawful for the surrogate mother to receive: refund of medical expenses, refund of other expenses, compensation for loss of income, other financial compensation (Financial Compensation for Surrogacy)?
There is no legal framing for this question yet. Surrogacy is prohibited in Finland.
7. Can the surrogate mother also be the oocyte donor (is there the option for having Traditional Surrogacy)?
There is no legal framing for this question yet. Surrogacy is prohibited in Finland.
8. Is it lawful to financially remunerate (to pay any surrogacy fees for designing the Surrogacy program to) a facilitator/Surrogacy Agency in Finland?
No.
9. If Surrogacy is officially prohibited (banned/forbidden), is the conduct of the following persons involved in the Surrogacy process criminalized by the law?
(I) surrogate mother – No*;
Surrogate mother may be criminalized by the Finnish law if her guilt of arrangement the adoption of the newborn is proved. (Chapter 25, Section 3c of the Finnish Criminal Code).
(II) intended parent(s) – No*;
Intended parents are considered guilty for designing the Surrogacy process if they intentionally give, have paid or promised to pay any financial compensation of expenses for the donation of gametes or embryos to be used in violation of Section 21 of the Act of Assisted Fertility Treatments, will be sentenced to a fine for Assisted Fertility Treatment violation (Section 35 “Assisted Fertility Treatment violation” of the Finnish Act of Assisted Fertility Treatments);
or they are considered guilty of the unlawful obtaining of consent to adoption – “…person promising or providing compensation… gets another to give the consent referred to the adoption of a child under the age of eighteen, shall be sentenced for unlawful obtaining of consent to adoption to a fine or to imprisonment for at most two years” (Chapter 25, Section 3b of the Finnish Criminal Code);
or they are considered guilty of unlawful arrangement of adoption –– “if a person… places a child under the age of eighteen years with the intent of adoption in a private home to be raised or in another manner arranges for the possibility that someone else adopts the child, he or she shall be sentenced for unlawful arrangement of adoption to a fine or to imprisonment for at most one year for committing the crime” (Chapter 25, Section 3c of the Finnish Criminal Code).
(III) oocyte/sperm donor – No*;
No, unless he or she is considered guilty of unlawful obtaining of consent to adoption or unlawful arrangement of adoption (Chapter 25, Section 3c of the Finnish Criminal Code).
(IV) facilitator/Surrogacy Agency – Yes.
Surrogacy is prohibited in Finland. In the frame of reference of the currently valid Finnish legislation, surrogacy arrangements are considered illegal. Surrogacy process designed with a commercial purpose or not will have legal consequences. Surrogacy Agency/Facilitator will be criminalized by the Finnish law. Under the criminal code, the Surrogacy Agency representatives/facilitator will be sentenced to fine payment or even imprisonment.
10. Who is recognized as the legal parent(s) of a newborn born by the surrogate mother?
(I) surrogate mother – Yes;
(II) oocyte donor – No;
(III) sperm donor – Yes*;
(IV) intended mother – No*;
(V) intended father – No*.
The surrogate mother is recognized as the legal mother of the newborn. According to Finnish law, the woman who gives birth to a child is the child’s legal mother.
Sperm donor will be recognized as the legal father only if the surrogate mother is not married. If the surrogate mother is married, her husband is recognized as the child’s legal father.
Intended mother will be recognized as the legal mother only if she adopts the child.
If the intended father doesn’t have the genetic link to the child (the donated sperm was used), he is not recognized as legal father unless a legally valid transfer of parentage has taken place.
11. Do the legal mechanisms exist to transfer parentage from the surrogate mother to the intended parent(s) (for instance, the adoption procedures)?
Yes, the newborn can be adopted. The adoption process should be designed in accordance with the Finnish Adoption Act (Act No 22/2012, adopted on 20 January 2012).
12. Is the existence of a genetic link between the baby born through Surrogacy process required for establishing legal parentage (legal paternity or/and legal maternity)?
No. But if an intended father doesn’t have the genetic link to the child (the donated sperm was used for creating the tiny embryo), he is not recognized as legal father unless legally valid transfer of parentage has taken place.
13. Are the other parties involved in the Surrogacy process mentioned in the baby’s Birth Certificate (or other official document connected to the birth of the baby)?
a. surrogate mother – Yes;
b. oocyte donor – No;
c. sperm donor – Yes*;
d. intended mother – No*;
e. intended father – No*.
Surrogate mother’s full name and if she is married – her husband’s name will be mentioned in the newborn’s Birth Certificate.
If the surrogate mother is not married – her name and sperm donor’s name will be mentioned in the newborn’s Birth Certificate.
14. Are foreign Birth Certificates in Surrogacy cases registered in Finland?
Yes, the Finnish Court can recognize the foreign birth certificate of the newborn born abroad. Finnish couple wishing for having their newborn and designed the international Surrogacy process abroad will have to legislate the Birth Certificate in Finland. The validation of the newborn’s birth certificate and the recognition of the transfer of legal parentage will be approved by the Finnish Court.
Something to say?
Every failure disrupts everything and shows you that your dream is nothing more than an illusion. That is the truth. But every illusion may be turned into the tiny sparkling dream that is so powerful to change everything that you faced in the past. That will make these dark days you faced just a part of your story. But the content will be different.
This is your story.
It will be started with the same words: “One week passed… Entering the Clinic’s Doorway with your high–heeled pastel shoes, pastel–colored ruffled whirling dress, and cascading gold–brown curls down to your waist, so intriguingly curled, so glittering, so gorgeous, so tempting, you have never thought that the tiny miracle is waiting for You! That day you were sparkling with new hope. Your imagination was captured by the gorgeousness of the clinic’s waiting hall. Accurate shapes. Pastel colors. Warm scents. Everything seemed beyond your imagination… Gorgeous sunshine came inside through the huge windows and featured your heavy curls with its gold touch. The doctor whispered “Surrogacy” in a hushed voice, and you have chosen that option. In nine months you were holding the wrist of the surrogate mother and hugging your tiny miracle.” This is your story.