Surrogacy is a legitimate assisted reproduction procedure, which may be used by a small number of couples. The main indication for surrogacy use is the inability of a woman to gestate. This means that the intended mother has her own eggs, but no uterus, or or that her uterus has a serious malformation.Her eggs are fertilized by IVF with her husband/partner's sperm, and resulting embryos are transferred to the uterus of a surrogate mother.This is called gestational surrogacy, as the surrogate is not genetically related to the child.

Surrogacy may also be used if the woman does not have, or cannot use, her own eggs.In this case, one possibility is to use donor eggs for IVF and a gestational surrogate.The other possibility is to inseminate the surrogate with sperm from the intended mother's husband or partner (i.e. by IUI), or to fertilize the surrogate's eggs in vitro (i.e. IVF) and transfer the embryos to the surrogate mother; this is called "traditional" or "genetic" surrogacy, as the surrogate mother is genetically related to the child. After delivery, the child is handed over to the intended parents for adoption.

The procedure of gestational (but not genetic) surrogacy is legal in Greece under ceretain conditions, according to Law 3089/2002.

Nomos_3089_FK_A_3242002.pdf