A Comparative Socio-Legal Analysis of Responses to Surrogacy in Greece and the UK

Surrogacy is an alternative means of reproduction that has been described as acontroversial practice raising important ethico-legal considerations relating to allegedrisks to autonomy, welfare and justice. However, many arguments against it are madewithout support from empirical data or despite such evidence as exists. Surrogacy isgoverned by diverse regulation worldwide, but such regulation generally has not beenshaped by the perspectives of those involved in it, while the incidence of surrogacyboth at national and international levels is increasing.In this thesis, I explore how surrogacy should be regulated in law through a sustainedcomparative socio-legal approach informed by a feminist perspective. I argue thatrespect for autonomy entails that individuals should be allowed to make use ofsurrogacy, provided that there are no good reasons for preventing them from doing so.I consider a range of such reasons - grounded in concerns for the welfare of theparticipants and social justice - and determine that surrogacy should be permitted, ifit is properly regulated. I then go on to consider the parameters of good regulationusing Greece and the UK as examples, and explore what, if anything, each regimemight learn from the other and how they can most effectively reflect the experiencesand protect the interests of the surrogacy participants.Greece and the UK offer the basis for a novel, interesting and fruitful comparativesocio-legal study. Greek law provides for an intention-based model of parenthoodfounded on altruistic gestational surrogacy agreements which, if pre-approved by thejudiciary, can become enforceable upon the child's birth, leading to an automaticacknowledgement of the intended parents' parenthood. UK law allows gestational andtraditional altruistic surrogacy arrangements, but only regulates those taking place inUK clinics. UK surrogacy agreements are unenforceable, parenthood is based ongestation and birth, and intended parents may acquire parenthood through a post-birthparental order granted by the courts if certain conditions are met.Despite how unusual and novel the Greek legal approach is, it is poorly exploredwithin the international literature. This thesis fills this gap. It also adds to the existing,limited data about people's experiences of surrogacy regulation in the UK, bothconfirming some findings of previous studies and challenging certain assumptions, aswell as introducing a range of new concerns.