Is surrogacy legal in Ireland?
Unregulated
Ireland has no specific law governing surrogacy, with only guidelines for Irish nationals abroad.
Ireland is one of 10 countries classified “Unregulated” for surrogacy — 23% of the 44 with data.
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Surrogacy laws by country
- Last checked
- 7 July 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- United Kingdom
- Altruistic only Altruistic surrogacy is legal in the UK, but commercial arrangements are prohibited under the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985.
- Belgium
- Altruistic only Belgium allows only altruistic surrogacy, where intended parents pay only for related expenses, though there is no legal framework for the process.
- Netherlands
- Altruistic only Altruistic surrogacy is legal in the Netherlands, but commercial surrogacy is illegal.
- France
- Banned France declares all surrogacy arrangements void under the Civil Code since 1994.
- Germany
- Banned Germany prohibits all surrogacy arrangements, both commercial and altruistic.
- Switzerland
- Banned Switzerland bans surrogacy, with penalties for clinicians and those arranging it, though surrogate mothers are still legal parents.
Other laws in Ireland
- Abortion
- Legal on request
- Euthanasia
- Illegal
- Suicide Laws
- Not a crime
- FGM Laws
- Specifically banned
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.