Home / Surrogacy & ART Law
Surrogacy & Assisted-Reproduction Law in Thailand
2015 ART Act compliance — parentage petitions, eligibility, and cross-border coordination.
Quick Answer
Since 2015 Thailand permits only altruistic surrogacy for Thai married couples (one Thai spouse, married 3+ years). Commercial surrogacy and foreign / same-sex surrogacy in Thailand are prohibited. Parentage petition from a fee quoted after review.
Scope
- ✓ Eligibility assessment under 2015 ART Act
- ✓ Licensed-clinic coordination
- ✓ Sec. 29 parentage petition
- ✓ Amphur birth-registration follow-up
- ✓ Cross-border surrogacy compliance memo
- ✓ Exit-documentation coordination (foreign surrogacy)
- ✓ Thai recognition of foreign birth record
- ✓ Egg / sperm donor agreements
- ✓ Embryo storage & disposition agreements
- ✓ MOPH & Medical Council compliance
FAQ
- Is surrogacy legal in Thailand?
- Only altruistic surrogacy for Thai married couples (one spouse must be Thai for at least 3 years) is legal under the Protection for Children Born from Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act B.E. 2558 (2015). Commercial surrogacy and surrogacy for foreign or same-sex couples remain prohibited in Thailand.
- How do intended parents obtain legal parentage?
- The intended parents (a Thai-married couple) must petition the Central Juvenile & Family Court under Sec. 29 of the 2015 Act for a parentage order, filed within the child's first year. The order retroactively confers legal parentage from birth.
- Can foreign couples use Thai clinics?
- No — since the 2015 Act, licensed Thai fertility clinics may only accept eligible Thai married couples for surrogacy. Foreign couples typically pursue surrogacy in jurisdictions such as Georgia, Ukraine, USA, Mexico, or Colombia. We advise on exit documentation and Thai recognition of foreign birth records.
- Cost?
- Fees depend on the documents, destination and urgency. Send your documents for a written quote after review — no prices are published. Any government or embassy fees are set by the authority; verify them directly before filing.
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The statutory position in Thailand
Assisted reproduction and surrogacy in Thailand are governed by the Protection of Children Born by Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act B.E. 2558 (2015). The Act ended the commercial surrogacy market that had operated before it. Payment for surrogacy, brokerage, and advertising for surrogates or commissioning parents are criminal offences, and the practitioner and clinic carry liability alongside the parties.
Altruistic surrogacy remains lawful only inside a narrow gate. The commissioning couple must be legally married, at least one of them must be a Thai national, and the marriage must have subsisted for the period the Act requires. The surrogate must be a blood relative of one spouse, must already have a child of her own, and must have her husband's consent if married. Approval by the medical council committee is a precondition, not a formality applied afterwards.
Parentage and what changes at birth
Under the Act, where the arrangement complies, the commissioning couple are the legal parents from birth and the surrogate is not. That is the opposite of the pre-2015 position, in which the birth mother was the legal mother and the commissioning parents had to litigate. The practical consequence is that compliance is the whole case: an arrangement outside the Act does not produce a defective parentage order, it produces no parentage at all, and the child's status must then be resolved through the Juvenile and Family Court.
Where foreign nationals actually stand
| Scenario | Position under Thai law | Realistic route |
|---|---|---|
| Both parents foreign | Outside the Act | Not available in Thailand; treat any offer as unlawful |
| One spouse Thai, married, relative surrogate | Inside the Act if committee approval is granted | Full compliance file, no payment beyond permitted expenses |
| Foreign couple with an existing child born abroad by surrogacy | Recognition question, not a surrogacy question | Consular registration in the parents' home state, then translation and legalisation for Thai use |
| Unmarried couple or single applicant | Outside the Act | Not available; adoption is a separate statutory route |
What we do and what we decline
- Advise on eligibility against the Act before any clinic engagement, in writing.
- Prepare the committee application file, consents and marriage and relationship evidence with certified translations.
- Handle downstream civil registration, name registration and passport documentation for a compliant birth.
- Handle legalisation and translation of foreign parentage orders for use with Thai authorities.
- We do not introduce surrogates, do not arrange payment structures, and do not assist arrangements outside the Act.
Common mistakes and how we avoid them
More questions we are asked
- Can a foreign couple do surrogacy in Thailand?
- No. The Act requires a married couple with at least one Thai national. Offers to the contrary are not a grey area; they sit inside the criminal prohibitions.
- Is the surrogate allowed to be paid?
- Commercial surrogacy is prohibited. Only genuine expenses within what the Act and the regulator permit may be met, and they must be documented.
- Who is the legal mother?
- Where the arrangement complies with the Act, the commissioning wife is the legal mother from birth and the surrogate is not.
- What about a child already born abroad through surrogacy?
- That is a recognition and documentation matter. The foreign parentage order is legalised and translated, and Thailand's Apostille accession takes effect on 28 February 2027, so until then the two-stage legalisation chain applies.
- Is adoption an alternative?
- It is a separate route with its own eligibility, home-study and Department of Children and Youth process, and inter-country cases run through the Central Authority.
Frequently asked questions
- How does a foreigner register a marriage in Thailand?
- The foreign partner first obtains an affidavit of freedom to marry from their embassy in Thailand, has it translated into Thai and legalized by the Department of Consular Affairs, and then both parties register the marriage at any district office (amphoe) with passports and two witnesses. Since the Marriage Equality Act took effect on 23 January 2025, same-sex couples register on exactly the same basis.
- Do we need an interpreter at the district office?
- Yes in practice — most district offices require that a foreign party who does not read Thai be assisted by an interpreter, and many request that the interpreter present identification and sign the register. Some offices also expect a prenuptial agreement, if any, to be presented before registration, because a prenuptial agreement in Thailand is only valid when registered together with the marriage.
- Is a Thai marriage recognized in my home country?
- A marriage registered at a Thai district office is generally valid worldwide, but recognition procedures differ: many countries want the Thai marriage certificate and the Kor Ror 2 extract translated, legalized by the MFA and certified by their embassy before it is entered in their civil register. Some countries additionally require registration with their consulate within a set period.
- How is a prenuptial agreement made enforceable in Thailand?
- Under the Civil and Commercial Code a prenuptial agreement must be in writing, signed by both spouses and two witnesses, and registered with the marriage at the district office on the day of registration — an agreement signed afterwards is void as to property arrangements. It also cannot contradict public order or the rules on parental duties, so the drafting must be Thailand-specific rather than a translated foreign template.