Surrogacy in Mexico: What You Need to Know

1. Legal Issues of Surrogacy in Mexico
2. Surrogate mother in Mexico
3. Mexican reproductive programs
4. Hybrid reproductive programs
5. Recommendations for a reproductive travel to Mexico

However, as of 2022, the situation has greatly changed for the better, and interest in Mexico as a key reproductive travel destination has increased greatly. 

Legal Issues of Surrogacy in Mexico

At the end of 2021, the country's Supreme Court announced surrogacy is a completely legal medical procedure. The judgment contains the following provisions:

1. Surrogacy is a legally protected procedure.
2. Biological parents have full rights to a child born by a surrogate mother.
3. Services of a surrogate mother are generally available: people of any gender, marital status or sexual preferences can become parents with their help.

If earlier a surrogate mother and a biological father were recorded as parents in a newborn certificate, then in accordance with the new law in some states, the names of both biological parents are entered on the birth certificate immediately after the birth of the baby.

Important: despite the adopted law, not all states are ready to follow it. There is still a legal vacuum in many issues related to assisted reproductive technologies and their general availability. For example, despite the country's recognition of same-sex marriage and the right of LGBT families to procreate through ART, the states of Cancun and Quintana Roo do not enforce the law. Therefore, when choosing a state, future parents should seek advice from the embassy of their country.

Uncertainty in the legal issues of surrogacy extends to heterosexual couples from the United States. This is due to the difficulties in crossing the border between Mexico and the United States, as well as the existing practice of including a surrogate mother as a mother in the certificate of a child, which complicates the legalization process. Therefore, it is recommended to choose states that practice issuing a "order of kinship before the birth of the child": this document requires that the child's biological mother and father be entered on the birth certificate.

In general, it takes 3-4 weeks to process documents for going home with a child. Parents need to submit an application to the embassy, as well as attach the results of a DNA test conducted by a certified laboratory. If the program is carried out in a state where a surrogate mother is entered on the birth certificate, she will need to sign an agreement to transfer parental rights. A child born to a Mexican surrogate mother automatically has the right to Mexican citizenship and a passport of this country, which also contributes to a return home with him without obstacles.

Surrogate mother in Mexico

Surrogate mothers in Mexico provide services to local residents and foreigners on a non-profit basis. However, the future mother and father are obliged to reimburse all expenses associated with pregnancy: food, medical and transport services, clothes for pregnant women and other needs reflected in the contract.

The criteria for selecting women for the role of surrogate mothers are fairly standard:

• Age from 18 to 35 years;
• Physical and psychological health;
• Absence of bad habits;
• Voluntary consent to the role of a surrogate mother.

Future parents can involve their own surrogate mother in the program if her candidacy is approved by reproductive specialists after a comprehensive medical and psychological examination.

Important: Carrying out international surrogacy programs is possible only if at least one of the parents is genetically related to the child.  

Mexican reproductive programs

The level of reproductive medicine in Mexican clinics is not inferior to the American one. The country allows surrogate motherhood, donation of eggs and sperm (anonymous, but you can see the photo of the donor), donation of embryos. Mexico is a good place for programs of surrogacy for single people.

Guaranteed programs are available in the country: clinics work with clients until the baby is born.

As for the ability to choose a gender, reproductive specialists do not offer such a service separately, they do not work on creating an embryo of a specific gender. However, in the process of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), the sex of the embryo will also be determined. The clinics allow prospective parents to choose which embryo they want to use in IVF.

The cost of donor eggs varies from $8,000 to $10,000.

Hybrid reproductive programs

Hybrid (international) programs involve a reproductive program in two countries. Most often this is due to economic and legal factors. For example, the medical part of a program (preparation of a surrogate mother, a donor, IVF and pregnancy monitoring) can be done in Mexico due to the lower price, and childbirth― in the parents' home country due to a more convenient process of legalization or a third country offering special preferences (for example, “right of soil” in Canada). 

Recommendations for a reproductive travel to Mexico

First of all, find out as much as possible about the state you are going to. This will help you choose a safe area in which to rent accommodation for the duration of your stay. The crime situation persists in remote areas, which it is better to know about in advance in order to avoid them.

The cost of housing with access to clean water and other necessary amenities ranges from $40 to $120 per day, the budget for food should be planned at the rate of $20 per day per person.

You will need a prepaid SIM card from a Mexican mobile operator: there will be many calls to the surrogate mother, the attending physician, and other involved persons.

You should also know that you have the opportunity to become parents without visiting Mexico thanks to the hybrid program of Feskov Human Reproduction Group with a departure of a surrogate mother for IVF to any clinic in the world of your choice. We will also take care of the transport of frozen eggs or embryos, if you have them.

The clinic offers the service of choosing sex of the baby, if you have always dreamed of a daughter or son. We have our own database of experienced surrogate mothers, egg and sperm donors, if you donor genetic material should be used for you.

After conclusion a contract in the country of your choice, with our support, the IVF procedure will be implemented and childbirth will take place. And our lawyers will draw up all the necessary documents to legalize your child and return home with him.

We work on the principle of guaranteed programs: if IVF does not end with a pregnancy or it is interrupted, we carry out as many repeated cycles at our own expense as necessary for you to become parents of a healthy child. The cost of our package of services is comparable to Mexican reproductive programs.

Learn more about our capabilities - order a free consultation with a manager on the website.