As of the 1st of January 2017, the All Families are Equal Act in Ontario (Canada) will be in force and it will impact any surrogacy process pursued in Ontario.
One of the concerns is the possibility for the surrogate mother to change her mind within seven days of the birth:”The surrogate provided written consent to give up her parental status both before conception and 7 days after the birth of the child.”
This kind of regulation is not totally new in Canada, Alberta and other provinces already had laws that said surrogacy agreements aren’t enforceable. Unfortunately now Ontario law says that too. Prior to this legislation gestational surrogacy agreements had been enforced in Ontario.
Other than this there is much good in the Act, if decide to pursue surrogacy in Canada the process for legal recognition of intended parents who use a surrogate will be easier and it reduces the need for Intended Parents to have to go to court because they have their parental status recognized in law, what it makes Declaration of Parentage will no longer required in Ontario.
