Greek Surrogacy Scandal: A Tale of Deception and Exploitation

In cases where a couple is experiencing infertility and IVF failures and miscarriages, or in cases where the woman is unable to carry a pregnancy to term due to one reason or another, surrogacy may be the only viable option that may provide them with the opportunity to bear biological children of their own. Surrogacy may be the only way for couples to fulfil their desire for their biological children. However, in a lot of countries, there are no legal frameworks that are set up to support it. In other countries where the laws guarding it are strict, some clinics frequently try to subvert those laws due to the lucrative nature of the surrogacy treatments, like in the case of the Greek surrogacy scandal. It is a tale of deception and exploitation which will be discussed here.

What is surrogacy?

Surrogacy is the process where a woman, who is referred to as the surrogate becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby, to hand it over to another woman or couple who are unable to get pregnant. These people are called the intended parents. There are two generally recognized forms of surrogacy. They are traditional or altruistic and commercial or gestational surrogacy. 

In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is inseminated for her to get pregnant. This ensures that the woman is biologically related or the biological mother of the child because she contributes DNA material. This type of surrogacy is legally problematic in the case that the woman changes her mind about giving up the baby after the delivery. This is why it is not a popular form of surrogacy for many fertility and surrogacy clinics. This type of surrogacy is also prohibited in Greece. 

Gestational surrogacy, on the other hand, allowed by the Greek laws, is the process where the eggs from the intended mother or donors are fertilized by sperm from the intended father or also a donor. The embryos that are created are then grown for a few days in the lab. After which, they are transferred to the uterus of the surrogate, who then carries the baby to term and delivers the baby. This ensures that the surrogate has no biological or genetic relationship with the baby.

The Laws Guiding Surrogacy in Greece 

In Greece, all the aspects of surrogacy are addressed by the law. In Greece, intended parents from overseas are allowed to seek surrogacy. This ensures that couples can seek overseas medical treatment for their fertility issues, which includes surrogacy in Greece. Also, this allows for medical health travel agencies or meditour agencies to have a surrogacy arrangement with those couples that seek their surrogacy in Greece. This is also a form of health or medical tourism for the country. 

Furthermore, a court decision is required to state clearly that the baby resulting from the surrogacy program is for the intended parents and not the surrogate’s. According to the court order, the clinic registers the baby into the intended parents’ family names on the day the baby is born, as long as the registration office provides the baby’s birth certificate. It is also stated that the surrogate mother has no legal rights to the intended parents’ baby. This means that the baby that is born through surrogacy belongs to the intended parents and no one else.

Understanding the surrogacy objectives

The main clinical objective of gestational surrogacy is to acquire the right number of eggs from either the intended mother or a donor. The eggs are then fertilized to create an embryo, then one or two are transferred to the uterus of the surrogate mother and the rest of the embryos are frozen. In order to achieve these goals, the IVF clinics have to maintain very high standards as well as the best techniques, with all the necessary accreditations, to help in achieving good embryos that will result in good pregnancy results.

Greek Surrogacy Scandal 

In the past couple of decades, the concept of surrogacy and surrogate mothers has changed and expanded. This has led to a lot of countries introducing surrogacy into the scope of ART techniques that are available to them. It has also led to a lot of countries banning the practice due to the abuse and misuse of surrogacy that is happening in their country and other countries. One such case is the Greek surrogacy scandal. The reports suggest that an alleged criminal organization engaged in human trafficking and illegal adoption. 

The Greek police recently arrested eight people who were accused of running illegal commercial surrogacy operations from a fertility clinic in Chania, Crete. It appears so far that dozens of intended parents, predominantly Australian couples have been affected by various concerning allegations. The eight arrested members of staff at Crete’s Mediterranean fertility institute have been charged with human trafficking, illegal adoption, purchase and sale of genetic material, falsification of medical file data to sell genetic material, forgery, false medical certificates, fictitious marriages and fraud. The babies that were born at the clinic are under police guard, and all the eggs, sperm and embryos that were still under the care of the clinic have been placed under the control of Greek authorities. 

More Tales of Deception and Exploitation on the Greek Surrogacy Scandal

The intended parents who had previously had their babies via surrogacy from this clinic are currently confused and left with a lot of questions. The legal documentation indicating the intended parents’ identities has vanished. There are also concerns that some couples were given babies that were not genetically related to them or were not from the egg or sperm donors chosen by the intended parents. 

The Greek police also say that the syndicate had abused the vulnerability of more than 160 poverty-stricken women from countries like Ukraine, Georgia, and Albania, persuading them to become egg donors and surrogate mothers in Greece. They allegedly orchestrated illegal adoptions and offered counterfeit IVF treatments to unsuspecting patients. The clinic charged intended parents 70-120 thousand euros, with the surrogates receiving around 18 thousand euros. Not every detail of the case is publicly available, but investigations have turned up around 182 charges of exploitation of vulnerable women. Out of the original eight arrested, four remain in custody, including the director of the clinic and the embryologist. 

How to Prevent Being a Part of a Surrogacy Scandal 

Most times, couples handling infertility become very desperate to build a family of their own. In their desperation, they overlook necessary steps and accept “shortcuts” from unscrupulous entities. It is crucial to do all necessary personal research before embarking on a surrogacy journey. Contact a trustworthy medical travel agency with the information to kickstart your surrogacy journey. Do research on the countries of your choice and find out if they have restrictions on surrogacy, especially if you opt for transnational surrogacy or require a fixed budget. For example, Georgia is a hub for surrogacy, and the cost is affordable. You can contact Anavara for more insight.