The Mediterranean Fertility Institute Mess: Why are Aussie Couples Heading Overseas for Surrogacy?

The Mediterranean Fertility Institute in Greece, according to its website is “classified as one of the most successful centres in Europe and known globally” and boasts of helping more than 5000 couples to add to their family. Now, their Crete-based centre has been raided and newborn babies separated from their parents amid human trafficking and fraud accusations. 

Greek police believe the surrogacy clinic is a criminal organisation that has exploited 169 foreign women by forcing them to be egg donors or surrogates. They also believe that patients have been defrauded through sham embryo transfers and illegal adoptions. Some members of the clinic’s medical team have been arrested and taken to prison while police continue to investigate. 

According to The West, eight babies were detained and placed in a guarded, high-security section of Crete’s Chania Hospital, including multiple belonging to Australian parents. Once born, the babies were whisked away from surrogate mothers, and those believed to be the baby’s biological parents were not allowed any access. Not a cuddle, not even a photograph. Instead, they were asked to provide a DNA sample in order to prove that they were in fact related to the babies. 

In all, around 100 Australian couples are affected in one way or another. They may have pregnant surrogates or births happening very soon, or they may have embryos trapped in storage at the facility. It is also possible that some have been given a newborn that is not genetically theirs. 

The Australian spoke to some of the couples who had unwittingly been caught up in the mess. They recounted that upon their arrival in Crete, everything was running as normal at the clinic, “bustling with doctors, pregnant women and excited parents anticipating their babies.” Within days, it all changed. 

Alison Duncan, who is the Australian Ambassador to Greece has written several letters to the Greek government, asking for Australian families to be able to visit their newborns and be given information on the current care plans for their babies. She has expressed that these requests, with respect to the Greek legal process, are being made in the best interest of the babies, who need love and attention. 

The hospital, however, is bound by a court order denying any access. 

There are delays in the results of the requested DNA tests, costing parents valuable days with their newborn baby. Even if the results come back positive, the parents will need to be granted permission from the district attorney’s office to take their babies home to Australia. The parents now have to prove that their child is not caught up in the alleged trafficking, can you imagine that? These tiny babies, not even a week old could be caught up in something that is going to affect their whole life and the course that their life takes, through absolutely no fault of their own, or their parents. 

From the perspective of someone who does have a child, I could not imagine the pain that those parents are going through knowing that their baby is somewhere that they are not. Some of them haven’t even held their baby, they don’t have a photo of their baby. They’re just stuck in this cruel limbo. 

To give some context here, I gave birth via c-section quite late at night, and I got unwell during the surgery. So I saw my baby very quickly (which I don’t remember) and then I started vomiting. My partner and the nurse took the baby to do all the things, the first feeding all that kind of stuff, while I waited in recovery for just over an hour. That time between giving birth and seeing my baby, because I was unwell, I didn’t think too much about being separated, but had I been fine I think I would have been like “Someone give me my baby.” You know, you want to hold them, you want to have those first few hours of their life watching over them. 

And if you have also had a baby, you will probably relate, to those first couple of hours and days you are completely immersed in your baby. You're soaking up their smell, you're familiarising yourself with their features, and you are their safe space. Those babies NEED to be with their parents, they are missing out on those precious first few days that you can never get back, and they’re never going to be a day old again. You have to wonder if there are perhaps going to be some kind of bonding repercussions for the babies and parents because of this. It is not the baby’s fault and it is not the parents’ fault. I can understand the law process, but I don’t agree with it. 

The Australian reports that Australian couples make up around half of the clientele who have turned to The Mediterranean Fertility Institute, with around 60 Aussie cases in the surrogacy programs per year, and another 30 going through donor IVF. Plus approximately another 80 Australian couples have their embryos stored there.

This begs another question, Why are Australian couples, struggling to conceive having to travel all the way to Europe to complete their families? 

In Australia, the law states that surrogacy MUST be altruistic, meaning unpaid, and commercial surrogacy, meaning for profit, is strictly illegal. However, each state and territory has its own set of laws governing the act of surrogacy, which is detailed more below, but they all follow a basic set of principles. 

The first is that the intended parents must have a medical or social need for surrogacy. This means they can’t conceive or carry a baby themselves, or to do so would be medically risky. 

The surrogate must maintain her bodily autonomy throughout the pregnancy, this means that while she is carrying someone else’s baby, her body is still her own. Of course, the intended parents can have an opinion, but all final decisions that regard her body are still her own to make. 

The surrogacy has to be altruistic as I said before, but it is the responsibility of the intended parents to cover all expenses that relate to the surrogacy, pregnancy and birth. There is no financial burden placed on the surrogate. 

After the birth of the baby, that birth is registered in the state where the baby is born and on the birth certificate the surrogate and her partner are listed as the baby’s parents. After the birth, the intended parents can file a Parentage Order with the court in their own state, that would transfer parentage from the birth parents to the intended parents, and a birth certificate is re-issued. 

All states have a requirement for independent legal advice to be obtained before attempting to become pregnant. 

As I said, each state and territory then has their own rules that must be followed as well. In the case that the intended parents and the surrogate parents are in different jurisdictions, it is the rules of the state in the intended parents’ lives that apply. 

The ACT has the oldest and most outdated surrogacy laws in Australia, ones that are desperately in need of reform. But in saying that, after my research, I feel that WA also needs to take a look at its laws as well. 

Traditional surrogacy, as in a surrogate conceiving with her own eggs and the sperm of the intended father (or a donor) makes up approximately 15% of surrogacies in Australia. In the ACT, these are not allowed, however, all other jurisdictions have allowed them. 

The ACT is also the only jurisdiction that has a legal requirement for there to be a genetic link between the child and one of the intended parents. 

All states and territories have raised the minimum age of the surrogate to 25 years old, while in the ACT it is still lowered to just 18. 

Single men and gay couples are able to pursue surrogacy in all states and territories except for WA, which only allows single women and heterosexual couples to engage. But on this, there is hope that these will be reformed sooner rather than later. 

South Australia is the only jurisdiction that says everyone involved (ie. intended parents and surrogate) must be Australian or permanent residents of Australia. 

There are also some rules around advertising for a surrogate. New South Wales says you can only utilise unpaid methods of advertising, while the ACT, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria say it is not allowed altogether. 

So why are people going overseas as opposed to having a surrogacy in Australia? The Medical Journal of Australia conducted an investigation into Australia’s use of surrogacy and reported on their findings. In their findings, they concluded that many respondents (53%) considered both overseas and domestic options for surrogacy. Those who only considered one option were considering overseas significantly more (92%)

They also concluded that the barriers to domestic surrogacy included a concern that the surrogate may decide to keep the baby, believing that the domestic process was a long and complicated one, and not having anyone to ask. 

This situation in Greece should be used as momentum to encourage Australia to look at their current surrogacy laws and make reforms that will help Australian couples stay at home for this experience. I think this situation is really going to put fear into people who want to use overseas surrogacy and may ultimately end their dreams of starting a family. 

Just as an end note, in my research I found Sarah Jefford to be the most helpful, insightful resource on surrogacy in Australia. According to her website, she is a family creation lawyer who is practising surrogacy and donor conception arrangements. She is an IVF mum herself, she is also an egg donor and she is a traditional surrogate as well. A true advocate for surrogacy if I have ever seen one. She has free resources, a blog, and a podcast and you can book an initial 30-minute consult with her as well. If you are someone considering surrogacy I could not recommend speaking to her enough. BUT her office is closed until mid-October, mark it in your diaries! 

Her website is here and her socials are @sarahjefford_