No. Surrogacy remains illegal in Portugal under the 2006 Assisted Reproduction Act (Law No. 32/2006), which prohibits all forms of gestational and traditional surrogacy. The Constitutional Court upheld this ban in 2018, citing protection of the child’s best interests and maternal dignity. No legislative amendments have been enacted to legalize surrogacy, despite ongoing debates. The National Council of Ethics for Life Sciences (CNECV) continues to oppose commercial surrogacy, reinforcing the status quo.
Key Regulations for Surrogacy in Portugal
- Absolute prohibition: Law No. 32/2006, Article 8, explicitly bans surrogacy contracts, whether altruistic or commercial, with penalties including fines and imprisonment for up to 2 years for violators.
- Criminalization of intermediaries: Article 27 limits access to assisted reproduction to heterosexual couples with proven infertility, excluding single individuals and same-sex couples from surrogacy pathways.
- No recognition of foreign surrogacy: Portuguese courts refuse to register birth certificates from foreign surrogacy arrangements (e.g., in Ukraine or the U.S.), as confirmed by the Supreme Court of Justice in 2021.
Recent developments, such as the 2026 draft revision of the Assisted Reproduction Act, have been proposed to decriminalize altruistic surrogacy but remain stalled due to ethical and political resistance. The CNECV’s 2023 opinion reiterated concerns over exploitation risks, delaying any potential legalization.