With more than four million people, this is the fourth most populous province in Canada. In the case of pursuing surrogacy in Alberta, it is also legal to enter into such agreement. Alberta Courts routinely grant Parentage Applications in the case of genetic, egg donor and sperm donor surrogacy. The meaning of this is that only the intended parents, nor the surrogate or her husband, will be recognized as legal parents of a child born as a result of assisted reproduction process and will be the only ones appearing on the newborn’s birth certificate.
See below some highlights of a surrogacy process in Alberta:
- Same sex and heterosexual couples are treated equally by Alberta’s law when it comes to third party reproduction regulation;
- As long as one of the intended parents is genetically linked to the baby, declarations are simple to obtain, so if one of the IP’s has a genetic relation to the baby being born, they can be recognized as parents of the child on the birth certificate;
- Adoption is required in cases when the intended parents are not genetically linked to the baby;
- The process is fast and the declaration of parentage can be ready in less than 7 working days;
- At the same time, there are three judges dealing with Surrogacy processes, meaning that the Intended Parents will get the birth certificate in about a week.
As usual, it is strongly recommended that intended parents look for legal counsel and guidance before entering any surrogacy agreement in order to avoid potential legal issues, longer waiting times and unexpected surrogacy costs along the way assuring a smoother journey to parenthood.
