What are the requirements for surrogacy in Thailand? Detailed explanation of legal requirements and medical standards

Opening: Real consultation scenario (Mechanism 1)

👨‍⚕️ Reproductive Medicine · Real Consultation Record

“Doctor, my sister wants to be a surrogate for me. We checked online and it says surrogacy is legal in Thailand. Is that true? What are the requirements?” — This is the third pair of sisters from Zhejiang to consult this cycle. Similar conversations appear almost every month in the international consultation clinic of the reproductive medicine center. Answering this question requires clarifying both legal conditions and medical conditions; neither is dispensable.

I. Core requirements for surrogacy in Thailand: Legal and medical dual thresholds

Since Thailand enacted the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act (B.E. 2558) in 2015, commercial surrogacy has been explicitly prohibited. Currently, legal surrogacy in Thailand is limited to surrogacy by a related relative (e.g., a sister for her sister, a cousin for her cousin) and requires approval from the Thai Medical Council and Ethics Committee. For most seekers without a family relationship, the legal requirements are not met.

II. Doctor's perspective: Legal red lines and medical bottom lines

As a reproductive medicine doctor, looking at “Thailand surrogacy requirements” requires distinguishing two groups: those who meet the conditions for relative surrogacy and those who do not. The former need to focus on medical feasibility, while the latter need to understand legal risks and alternative options.

2.1 Meeting relative surrogacy requirements — Medical evaluation is key

If the intended parents and the surrogate are indeed biologically related (e.g., biological sisters) and both are Chinese citizens, Thai law allows applying for ethical approval. In this case, the medical conditions include:

• Intended mother: Normal ovarian function or ability to obtain usable eggs through ovarian stimulation; AMH ≥1.2 ng/mL (under 35 years old), or still able to obtain sufficient eggs after evaluation; no genetic diseases requiring PGT.
• Intended father: Semen analysis meets standards (concentration ≥15×10⁶/mL, PR≥32%); normal chromosome karyotype.
• Surrogate: Age ≤45 years (most centers require ≤42 years); at least one previous full-term vaginal delivery; normal uterine shape (confirmed by ultrasound or hysteroscopy); no history of pregnancy complications; negative infectious disease screening (HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, etc.); qualified psychological evaluation.

2.2 Not meeting relative surrogacy requirements — Extremely high legal risk

For families without a biological relationship, Thai law does not permit commercial surrogacy. A few agencies claim to “operate through legal Thai institutions,” but in reality, these are mostly gray operations or transit through third countries (e.g., Laos, Cambodia). Such arrangements have very low legal validity, and there are significant risks regarding birth certificates, nationality determination, and entry/exit. From a doctor's perspective, any attempt at non-related surrogacy is not recommended.

III. Comparison of surrogacy conditions in different countries: Why Thailand is no longer the first choice

Understanding Thailand's surrogacy conditions requires viewing them within the global surrogacy legal map. The table below compares the differences between Thailand and other countries before and after 2015:

Thailand's transformation from the “Asian surrogacy hub” before 2015 to a “strictly restrictive country” now is fundamentally due to banning commercial practices to protect the rights of its own women. Therefore, when searching “What are the requirements for surrogacy in Thailand,” the first thing to clarify is: which category do you fall into.

IV. Most easily overlooked details: Ethical approval and proof of biological relationship

In eligible relative surrogacy, three details are often overlooked:

• Detail 1: Biological relationship requires notarization. A sister relationship requires birth certificates, household registration, and a DNA kinship report. The Thai Ethics Committee requires a biological relationship certificate from a third-party institution; verbal statements alone are not sufficient.
• Detail 2: The surrogate must already have at least one living child. This is a strict requirement of Thai law, intended to prevent surrogacy from affecting the surrogate's own fertility. Primiparous women cannot act as surrogates.
• Detail 3: The approval cycle takes about 3-6 months. Material preparation, translation and notarization, ethical review, and medical evaluation take at least 3 months. Many people think “you can start as soon as you arrive in Thailand,” but the actual pre-approval time far exceeds expectations.

V. Most common pitfalls: Agency information and legal cognitive biases

Based on search behavior analysis, common cognitive biases among users regarding Thailand surrogacy are concentrated in the following points:

• Myth 1: “IVF is legal in Thailand, so surrogacy is also legal.” IVF and surrogacy are two different technologies. IVF in Thailand is open to legally married couples, but surrogacy is limited to relatives; the legal basis for each is different.
• Myth 2: “Finding a local agency can bypass the law.” Thai medical institutions are strictly regulated by the Ministry of Health. Regular hospitals will not perform embryo transfers for non-related surrogacy. So-called “special channels” usually involve forged documents or underground operations. If discovered, the surrogate may be prosecuted, and the newborn's nationality determination may reach a deadlock.
• Myth 3: “Do IVF first, then find a surrogate.” The correct order is: First confirm the legality of surrogacy → then start the medical process. If the surrogacy itself is illegal, the embryo transfer will not receive legal protection.

VI. Actual process after meeting conditions (Relative surrogacy)

If you indeed meet the conditions for relative surrogacy in Thailand (sister/cousin relationship, both parties are legally married), the specific process is as follows:

The entire process takes about 5-8 months (excluding prenatal care and delivery), with the approval stage being the most prone to delays.

VII. Time planning: What to do and when

For families with a clear intention, it is recommended to proceed according to the following timeline:

• 9-12 months in advance: Confirm legal feasibility, prepare proof of biological relationship and notarization, choose a regular hospital in Thailand with assisted reproductive qualifications (e.g., Bumrungrad, Samitivej, BNH, etc.), and engage a Thai lawyer to initiate ethical approval.
• 6-8 months in advance: Simultaneously complete medical examinations for both parties (AMH, FSH, semen analysis, chromosomes, infectious disease screening); the surrogate completes hysteroscopy and psychological evaluation.
• 4-6 months in advance: After approval, start the ovarian stimulation cycle; the male partner provides semen simultaneously; embryo culture and PGT.
• 2-3 months in advance: Surrogate endometrial preparation, frozen embryo transfer.
• After transfer: Pregnancy test → confirm intrauterine pregnancy → decide on prenatal care location. If choosing to return home for prenatal care, coordinate with the domestic obstetrics department in advance; if staying in Thailand for prenatal care, apply for a long-term visa.

VIII. Special situations: Low AMH, advanced age, genetic diseases

Under the premise of meeting legal conditions, some special situations require additional evaluation:

8.1 Low AMH (<1.0 ng/mL)

If the intended mother has low AMH, Thai doctors will recommend antral follicle count (AFC) assessment and a ovarian stimulation pre-test first. If the number of retrieved eggs is still acceptable (≥4), the standard process can proceed; if egg retrieval is difficult, multiple cycles may be needed to accumulate embryos, or egg donation may be considered. Egg donation in Thailand is only for legally married couples and has strict age and health requirements for donors (<35 years old, no genetic diseases).

8.2 Advanced age (≥42 years old)

When the intended mother is ≥42 years old, most reproductive centers in Thailand will require PGT-A (preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy) and recommend accumulating at least 3 chromosomally normal embryos before transfer. The risks of miscarriage and pregnancy complications are significantly higher in older women, requiring prior internal medicine and genetic counseling.

8.3 Genetic disease carrier

If both partners carry the same recessive genetic disease (e.g., thalassemia, spinal muscular atrophy), Thailand has the capability for PGT-M (monogenic disease screening), but gene probes need to be prepared in advance, taking about 2-3 months. This cost is calculated separately and is not included in the standard IVF package.

IX. Frequently asked questions (Compiled by practitioners)

X. Practitioner's observation: The real situation of surrogacy in Thailand

As a doctor engaged in cross-border reproductive services for many years, I have observed several clear trends:

• First, the legal threshold for surrogacy in Thailand is continuously tightening. After 2020, Thailand's requirements for ethical approval have become stricter, and some hospitals have even voluntarily suspended accepting foreign relative surrogacy cases. Before choosing Thailand, current policies must be confirmed, rather than relying on information from a few years ago.
• Second, alternative options are becoming clearer. For families that do not meet Thailand's conditions, Georgia, parts of the USA, and Ukraine (pre-war) are more common legal choices. The laws, costs, and processes vary greatly between countries and need to be evaluated based on individual circumstances.
• Third, information transparency is a trend. More and more families are obtaining information through public medical literature, government websites, and regular medical institutions, rather than relying on agencies. This is why we insist on presenting real conditions in a knowledge base format — to help users build rational understanding, rather than creating false hope.

Author: Doctor, International Consultation Clinic, Reproductive Medicine Center ｜ Data as of: March 2025 ｜ Content is for knowledge reference only and does not constitute legal or medical advice.