Belgian Office, Taipei

Surrogacy

Current Belgian legislation does not address the issue of surrogacy or of children born via surrogacy.

In light of this legislative vacuum, the Belgian federal government has no choice other than to ignore any legal consequences of foreign documents created in this context (e.g. birth certificates or judgements). This position is adopted even if the local legal procedure has been followed meticulously abroad and the documents have been properly legalised or apostilled for use in Belgium. What results in legal implications abroad is not automatically recognised by the Belgian internal Rule of Law.

If a Belgian citizen decides to pursue surrogacy abroad, the Belgian federal government will refuse to legally recognise this person as the parent, even if this is allowed by the local law in question.

Taking into account everyone's competences and the reasons listed above:

  • No Belgian passport, including a provisional passport, will be issued by the FPS Foreign Affairs to a child born via surrogacy;
  • No laissez-passer or visa will be issued by the Immigration Office to a child born via surrogacy.

In the absence of being able to obtain a travel document allowing the child born via surrogacy to travel, the intended parent(s) will have to address the competent Belgian court.