In gestational surrogacy (aka the Host method) the surrogate becomes pregnant via

embryo transfer with a child of which she is not the biological mother. She may have
made an arrangement to relinquish it to the biological mother or father to raise, or to a
parent who is unrelated to the child (e. g. because the child was conceived using egg
donation, sperm donation or is the result of a donated embryo). The surrogate mother
may be called the gestational carrier. Advanced countries of Christian origins (i.e. France,
Belgium, Holland, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and Hungary) have made
surrogacy illegal. Surrogacy is also banned in Japan and Saudi Arabia, both nonChristian nations.
In the United States, surrogacy is legal depending on the state concerned. Surrogacy
is legal in Israel under their Embryo Carrying Agreements Law passed in 1996. The
only major nation where surrogacy is legal is India. In a 2008 case involving a Japanese
baby, the Supreme Court of India held that commercial surrogacy is allowed in India.
Constitutional or Statutory or Treaty Prohibitions
In our jurisdiction the legal status of surrogacy has not yet been settled. The
1987 Constitution has no outright prohibition of surrogacy. Section 12, Article
II of the 1987 Constitution merely provides the following:
Section 12. The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and
strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the
life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The natural and primary
right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the
development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government.
The closest law the Philippines has regarding surrogacy is in The Family Code
of the Philippines (Family Code). The Family Code, however, is silent about surrogacy
but has provisions regarding artificial insemination or adoption.
Articles 163 and 164 of the Family Code provides:
Art. 163. The filiation of children may be by nature or by adoption. Natural filiation may
be legitimate or illegitimate.
Art. 164. Children conceived or born during the marriage of the parents are legitimate.
Children conceived as a result of artificial insemination of the wife with the sperm of the
husband or that of a donor or both are likewise legitimate children of the husband and his
wife, provided, that both of them authorized or ratified such insemination in a written
instrument executed and signed by them before the birth of the child. The instrument
shall be recorded in the
civil registry together with the birth certificate of the child.