Answer: Only puppies are protected from early separation from their mothers (from birth) by Quebec regulations.

Sections 40 and 42 of the Regulation respecting the safety and welfare of cats and dogs require Quebec kennel owners to keep the female and her litter together for 8 weeks after giving birth.

Quebec law governing surrogacy authorizes the separation of human babies from their mothers immediately after birth, to be handed over to the benefiting parents.

Answer: No compensation.

Quebec's Minister of Justice, Mr. Jolin-Barrette, has chosen not to require the benefiting parents to take out insurance to protect and compensate the altruistic surrogate mother for the risks she incurs regarding her own fertility, health or even life. The Minister cited the high costs associated with insurance premiums for the benefiting parents.

Article 13 of the "Regulation  respecting information on the profile of a person who has contributed to the procreation of a child in the context of a parental project" stipulates that the surrogate mother :

(1) understands the risks associated with pregnancy;

(2) knows that the person alone or the spouses who formed the parental project are not liable for those risks;

Note that the article mentions "pregnancy" and not "pregnancy involving In Vitro Fertilization, which don't carry the same risks.

Answer: All of the above

The majority of surrogacies use assisted reproduction technology. In vitro fertilization (implantation of embryos in the uterus of a surrogate mother) and the use of oocytes from an oocyte provider significantly multiply obstetrical risks.

A new Canadian study covered and analyzed nearly one million live births over 9 years in Ontario.  The study, published in July 2024, concluded that IVF pregnancies under surrogacy carry rates of “severe maternal morbidity” 3 times higher than natural pregnancies and 1.5 times higher than IVF self-pregnancies.

For more information on the medical risks associated with surrogate pregnancies, visit our dedicated web page.

Answer: True

There is no age limit for the benefiting parents. Only the surrogate mother must meet age eligibility criterias: minimum age: 21, maximum age: 42. (available in french only)

The eligibility criterias for surrogate parents are as follows (they are the same as for other assisted reproductive technologies, a medical intervention for which the female patient consents to the medical risks for herself):

be insured by the Quebec Public Health Insurance Plan or be in a relationship with a person on active service in the Canadian Armed Forces and residing in Quebec;

have an infertility problem or an inability to reproduce (single person, female-female couple or male-male couple).

Answer: False

The Quebec legislature has not prohibited the use and purchase of anonymous gametes for surrogacy accompanied by embryo transfer (the majority of fertility clinics use this technology), thus depriving many children born of this practice of the “right to know their parents”, insofar as possible, as set out in article 7 of the UN's “Convention on the Rights of the Child”.

Oocyte donation are rare in Canada. The gametes offered to Canadian benefiting parents often come from U.S. or international gamete banks, many of which are anonymous donations.

Answer: False

The rates of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) are underestimated by fertility clinics (see our page on this subject) and the long-term effects are still unknown:

“Until epidemiological studies on the safety of egg donors are available, cases can provide the only guidance for safe recruitment.’ Almost 20 years later, the long-term risks for egg donors are still largely unknown, and case reports (Ahuja, Simons, 1998, Schneider, 2008) are still the only clues to these possible risks.” SCHNEIDER and Al. “Long-term breast cancer risk following ovarian stimulation in young egg donors: a call for follow-up, research and informed consent”, Reproductive Biomedicine On Line, Volume 34, ISSUE 5, P480-485, May 2017

Answer: “Having a healthy weight” is not a request reported by the lawyers surveyed by Stefanie Carsley in her thesis “Surrogacy in Canada: Lawyers' experiences, practices and perspectives” (2022).  Other requests were noted in certain contracts and mentioned by lawyers practicing in the surrogacy industry.  Lawyers are not unanimous on the enforceability of these contracts.  See our web page on this subject.

Answer: “More than 100.”

Recipient parents who testified on the TV show “Une époque formidable” reported that they met more than a hundred surrogate mothers before one of them agreed to do it out of altruism.  One  even asked for a house in exchange for surrogacy.  To view the sequence: minute 14:08 (in french)

Answer: “Surrogacy is a contract between two parties”.

A surrogate pregnancy uses medically assisted reproductive technology (ART), but it is not a medical intervention.  Surrogacy occurs sometimes in Canada without any medical assistance (see our web page on canadian lawsuits).  Surrogate pregnancy does not cure the fertility of the benefiting parents, but it can render surrogate mothers infertile (see “Geneviève's” testimony, p. 249 of K. Lavoie's doctoral thesis “Médiation procréative et maternités assistées : vers une approche relationnelle et pragmatique de la gestation pour autrui et du don d'ovules au Canada”).  (in french)

Answer: “40%” 

The data is taken from an Ontario survey of surrogate mothers' satisfaction with their experience.  The study identified a sample of 287 surrogacy arrangements, and data were collected via an online survey from 184 surrogate mothers (for a total of 287 surrogacy arrangements). 

78% of these arrangements had been organized by intermediary agencies.  The client profile is extracted from the survey results.