Declaration of birth of a child born as a result of a surrogate pregnancy
The rules governing surrogate pregnancies aim to better protect the unborn child and the surrogate mother.
Before undertaking a surrogacy project, it is essential to seek legal advice for a good understanding of the applicable rules and to avoid serious consequences. For example, if the intended parents reside outside Québec, they cannot be legally recognized as the parents of a child born in Québec. In this case, the Québec surrogate mother is considered to remain the child’s legal parent, even if this was not the initial intention.
Surrogacy outside Québec
Since June 6, 2024, parental projects involving surrogacy outside Québec are subject to authorizations issued by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux. Once the child is born, an application for judicial recognition in Québec must be made for these projects. To learn about the conditions applicable to this type of parental projects, please visit the Québec.ca website, more specifically the pages Rules governing surrogacy outside Québec and Procedure to carry out a parental project involving surrogacy with a surrogate who is domiciled outside Québec. You may also contact Services Québec at 1-877-644-4545.
Declaring the birth to the Directeur de l’état civil
In the case of a surrogate pregnancy that began on or after March 6, 2024, the intended parents may declare the birth of their child directly to the Directeur de l’état civil (declaration by legal route) if the surrogate mother has consented after the birth to the filiation being established in their favour.
The intended parents must submit the following documents to the Directeur de l’état civil:
- A declaration of birth in paper version only.
- An authentic copy in paper version of the notarized surrogacy agreement, written in French by a notary member of the Chambre des notaires du Québec and signed before the beginning of the pregnancy.
- A copy of the consent of a woman or person who gave birth to the child, written within 30 days of the birth, but not before the first seven days of the birth. This consent must be accompanied by an authenticated translation in Québec if it is in a language other than French.
Reminder:If the conditions allowing the establishment of filiation by legal route are not respected, the declaration of birth must be completed by the surrogate mother. The intended parents then must apply to the court to have the filiation of the child changed and obtain a judgment under which the Directeur de l’état civil will draw up an act of birth mentioning the filiation of the intended parents.
Consent of the surrogate mother
The consent of the surrogate mother can take two forms:
- A notarial act en minute (a copy of the notarial act must be provided).
- An act under private writing, signed in front of two witnesses who have no interest in the surrogate pregnancy project and including the date and place of signature (a copy of the act under private writing must be provided).
The surrogate mother’s consent expressly aims to ensure that her filiation with the child is deemed never to have existed and that the filiation is established in favour of the person alone or the two spouses who formed the parental project.
Thus, the consent must contain a statement that the surrogate mother:
- understands that she is the parent of the child
- understands that the filiation of the child can be established in favour of the person alone or the spouses who formed the parental project only if she consents
- understands that her consent, given after the birth of the child, allows the filiation of the child to be deemed established in favour of the person alone or the spouses who formed the parental project
- understands that her bond of filiation with the child is severed and is deemed never to have existed
- acknowledges that her consent is free and informed
If the consent of the surrogate mother is given by act under private writing in the presence of two witnesses, this act must contain the following:
- The name, address and capacity of the surrogate mother.
- The name, address and capacity of the witnesses (that is, a specification of the relationship between each witness and the surrogate mother, in view of proving that the witnesses have no interest in the surrogacy project; for example, the surrogate mother’s sister or physician, or a member of the nursing staff).
This act must also contain a statement from the witnesses that they have no interest in the surrogacy project.
If, after analysis, the consent is considered to be compliant, the act of birth is drawn up on behalf of the intended parents. Otherwise, the surrogate mother remains the child's parent, and the intended parents will have to apply to the court to change the filiation of the child.
For this purpose, it is possible to use the form Consent of a Woman or Person Who Gave Birth to the Child in a Parental Project Involving Surrogacy.
Reminder:The child's declaration of birth must be completed in paper format for pregnancies that began on or after March 6, 2024, since it must be attached to the notarized surrogacy agreement and the consent of the surrogate mother.
Other useful links
- Documents to be sent to the Directeur de l'état civil in relation to the donor of reproductive material (eggs or sperm) in order to know the donor’s origins
- Surrogacy
on the Québec.ca website
Date de révision : 2025-12-17
