Fertility Law: Insights About Challenges And Legal Protection

by | Jun 23, 2025 | legal guidance | 0 comments

A cover about fertility law insights.

Fertility law Canada affects family building plans significantly. It offers you guidance about common pitfalls and navigating them legally.

The Assisted Human Reproduction Act also governs fertility treatments and surrogacy. Without knowing these laws, you may end up losing your parental rights and face legal penalties.

To help you avoid common fertility law mistakes that could cost you your dreams, we’ve developed this guide. Let’s look at everything you must know about fertility law Canada.

What Is Fertility Law?

Fertility law is an emerging area of legal practice that deals with family building through assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). It allows you to understand your rights and obligations when using technologies with genetic material, such as eggs, sperm, or embryos, to have children.

Legal and medical concepts come together in fertility law, with rules that vary by location. The Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHRA) has served as Canada’s federal framework since 2004. 

Many people think this law bans surrogacy or gamete donation, but that’s a misconception. It only controls specific aspects, like paying money to surrogates to carry your child.

Key legal terms to know under fertility law Canada.

Common Legal Challenges In Fertility Journeys

Legal challenges can arise at any point in your fertility journey. It’s important to identify such complications early to ensure your family building plans don’t suffer. Here are the top four fertility law challenges most couples face in Canada:

1. Surrogacy Agreements And Parental Rights

One of the top fertility challenges Canadian couples face is surrogacy arrangements. Under the AHRA, intended parents cannot pay a surrogate for carrying their child.

You can only reimburse your surrogate’s out-of-pocket expenses, such as:

  • Medical appointments
  • Pregnancy supplements
  • Hospital bills during delivery

If you’re paying someone to arrange a surrogate for you directly or indirectly, you’ll be violating fertility law Canada. This can also prevent you from establishing parental rights after your child is born.

2. Gamete Donation And Anonymity Laws

Different countries handle donor anonymity in their own ways. The UK implemented the removal of anonymous gamete donation in 2005 by adding a clause that donor-conceived people can find out the donor’s identity after turning 18. 

That’s not the case with fertility law Canada. Donor anonymity is still protected in the country, which means you may never know who is your child’s sperm or egg donor.

The anonymity laws may be a benefit for the donors, but for parents they pose a challenge. You may worry about health risks in your child because of not knowing the donor’s medical history.

Of course, these anonymity laws depend on the sperm or egg donor’s preference. If they wish to be known, you’ll receive an update from your clinic on the donor’s identity.

3. Stored Embryos And Post-Relationship Disputes

About one in six Canadian couples experience infertility. Most of these people opt for assisted reproduction. However, they don’t prepare for embryo disputes if you or your partner divorces.

Even when couples develop a contractual agreement for embryo disputes, courts still face difficulties in decision-making. One of the following outcomes is expected during embryo disputes:

  • Contractual approach: They enforce previous agreements between parties
  • Mutual consent approach: Both parties must agree on what happens next
  • Balancing approach: They weigh different interests to find fair solutions

Consulting a fertility lawyer can help you tackle embryo dispute challenges easily in Canada.

4. Cross-Border IVF And Jurisdictional Issues

IVF treatments across borders make up about 10% of all cases worldwide. People often travel to get treatments they can’t get at home. This creates a maze of legal problems. 

Parents struggle with recognition in their home country. Children might face citizenship issues. Sometimes, parents can’t even register births in either country.

Contracts Are Essential In ARTs To Protect Legal Rights

Agreements between the involved parties play an essential role in resolving assisted reproduction dispute cases. If you have a surrogacy contract with the surrogate mother, the court will help you establish rights if the latter breaks the contract.

You can also sign a contract with your partner for post-relationship stored embryo disputes. These agreements can be developed by an experienced fertility lawyer Canada. The contracts can protect you from:

  • Unexpected custody claims
  • Challenges of establishing parental rights
  • Conflicts with the surrogate mother or your ex-partner

These agreements also protect surrogate mothers, sperm donors, and egg donors from unwanted child obligations. 

For example, a couple may refuse to file for parental rights after a surrogate has given birth to a disabled or special needs child. If a contract is in place, it can protect the surrogate and ensure the intended parents take responsibility.

Key Elements Of A Solid Contract For Protection Of Fertility Law Rights

A complete agreement needs to outline several vital elements:

  • Clear identification of all parties involved and their roles
  • Financial arrangements, including compensation and expense coverage
  • Medical provisions regarding prenatal care and health-related decisions
  • Procedures to establish legal parentage
  • Confidentiality clauses protecting everyone’s privacy
  • Dispute resolution mechanisms

The more comprehensive your fertility law agreement is, the easier it will be to establish rights and tackle challenges.

How Can Fertility Law Protect Parental Rights?

Ontario’s section 5 of the Children’s Law Reform Act states that providing reproductive material alone doesn’t automatically make someone a legal parent. This creates room to define parental status through proper legal agreements. 

Fertility law helps establish:

  • Decision-makers for children
  • Parenting time arrangements
  • Everyone’s intentions before conception to avoid future disputes

Your fertility contract becomes valuable if your relationship breaks down or the surrogate mother wants payment.

How Can Fertility Law Firms Assist With Legal Issues 

Legal planning makes all the difference when starting your fertility journey. Below are some ways in which a fertility law attorney can help you in Scarborough:

1. Specialized Fertility Law Services

You can enjoy access to special services by fertility lawyers such as Barnet Law. We offer the following vital services to clients in Scarborough and Whitby:

  • Draft legally binding contracts for surrogacy and donation arrangements
  • Give legal advice to all parties
  • Secure parentage declarations post-birth
  • Help fertility clinics and cryobanks with compliance matters
  • Handle cross-border fertility arrangements

Legal contracts must be in place before fertility clinics perform procedures like embryo transfers. This makes early legal consultation a necessity.

2. Custom-Tailored Fertility Agreements

Each fertility trip needs custom legal solutions. Our fertility lawyer team creates surrogacy contracts that help intended parents and gestational surrogates understand everything in their agreement. 

The document drafting process lets parties address what might happen months later. This includes scenarios where intended parents separate before birth or whether surrogates can share photos on social media.

A well-documented contract will also protect your rights in court if the dispute cannot be resolved by mediation.

Contact Barnett Law To Develop Your Fertility Law Agreement

Starting your fertility journey with clear terms and conditions will help you significantly. You won’t have to worry about parental rights challenges, embryo disputes, and more.

If you wish to develop a solid agreement under the fertility law Canada, we can help you. Our experienced lawyers have drafted hundreds of surrogacy contracts, parental rights agreements, and more.

Contact us today to start the process of developing your fertility contract in Scarborough and Whitby. We’ll develop an agreement that will be favourable to you and your partner.

Author Profile

Barnett Law
Barnett Law
Barnett Law is a trusted and knowledgeable lawyer in Scarborough. Her expertise spans real estate law, family law, adoptions and fertility law. A lawyer by profession and a humanitarian by heart, Athena Narsingh Barnett wants to help people become more familiar with the legal system and be well-informed to make important legal decisions.