Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and Surrogacy Abroad
International surrogacy has become increasingly common due to the lower costs, availability of donors, and liberalised laws abroad, particularly in the US. Nonetheless, the process for getting your child back to the US can be long and complicated. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) §301 and §309, the U.S. citizen parent must have a biological connection to a child born with the help of Assisted Reproductive Technology, such as surrogacy, in order to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child at birth. In other words, one parent must be the sperm or the egg donor in order to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child. Children born abroad using foreign surrogates who are not biologically related to a U.S. citizen parent can have trouble returning to the United States. If the child is not biologically related to a U.S. citizen parent, the child will not acquire U.S. citizenship automatically at birth. In surrogacy cases, the “intended” or “commissioning” parents would be required to provide medical and documentary evidence of the child’s conception and birth.
Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State (2017)
If you are considering going abroad to have a child through use of assisted reproductive technology, please consider the following information carefully.
1. Will My Child Acquire U.S. Citizenship at Birth?
The U.S. Department of State determines whether a child born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent acquired U.S. citizenship at birth
A child born abroad may acquire U.S. citizenship at birth if the parent/parents of the child meet the conditions prescribed in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
The U.S. Department of State interprets the INA to mean that a child born abroad must be biologically related to a U.S. citizen parent who meets the following statutory transmission requirements of INA 301 or 309 in order for the child to acquire U.S. citizenship at birth:
Even if local law recognizes a surrogacy agreement and finds that U.S. parents are the legal parents of a child conceived and born abroad through ART, if the child does not have a biological connection to a U.S. citizen parent, the child will not be a U.S. citizen at birth.
In addition to establishing a biological relationship to the child, U.S. citizen parents must also establish that other transmission requirements have been met, such as having had certain periods of physical presence or a residence in the United States prior to the birth of the child. For more information about specific requirements, visit INA Sections 301 and 309.
The Department of State can only determine the U.S. citizenship status of a child born abroad after the child is born.
2. What Type of Evidence/Documentation May Be Required to Establish My Child’s Claim to U.S. Citizenship?
A U.S. citizen parent who has a biological child overseas, including via a foreign surrogate mother, may apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of an American Citizen (CRBA) and a U.S. passport for the child at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the country where the child was born.
For documents required for your case, consult the website for your nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. Parents must provide evidence to the local U.S. Embassy or Consulate of the child’s identity, birth, and citizenship. In an ART case, the parents may be requested to provide medical and documentary evidence of the child’s conception and birth and such other evidence to demonstrate the biological connection between parent and child, along with evidence of the parents’ identity, citizenship, parent’s requisite physical presence in the United States, and legal status as the child’s parent under local law.
Parents may also arrange for DNA tests of the child, using approved labs and procedures as described in our Information Sheet for Parents on U.S. Citizenship and DNA Testing.
3. Will I Be Able to Obtain a Travel Document for My Child?
If a child born to a foreign surrogate is not biologically related to a U.S. citizen parent, the child will not acquire U.S. citizenship automatically at birth and therefore will not be entitled to a U.S. passport or a Consular Report of Birth Abroad.
If your child is eligible to apply for a U.S. passport, please NOTE: In many cases under U.S. law, the legal parents of a child under 16 years old must both consent to the U.S. passport application. If, under local law, a surrogate mother is the legal mother of a child born through ART, then the surrogate mother would need to consent to passport issuance.
A CRBA is a citizenship document, not a parentage document. A CRBA certifies that a child born abroad is a U.S. citizen. A CRBA does not determine the identity of the child’s legal parents. Therefore, in general, the name/s listed on the CRBA is/are the U.S. citizen parent/s with a biological connection to the child. A second parent may be listed on the CRBA if the second parent demonstrates a legal parental relationship to the child under local law; the CRBA does not, however, serve as a record of that individual’s status.
5. Other Important Issues to Consider
Fertility Clinic Errors Can Have Serious Consequences for Children Born Abroad Through ART The Department is aware of cases where foreign fertility clinics have substituted alternate donor sperm and eggs for the U.S. parents’ genetic material, either purposefully when the planned genetic material turned out not to be viable or through accidental laboratory errors. The intended parents learned of these undisclosed switches only when the parents obtained DNA tests after the child’s birth, sometimes as part of the process of documenting the child’s citizenship for the purposes of obtaining a U.S. passport. Sometimes, as a result of these errors, the child was born stateless and was unable to obtain travel documents to leave the country of birth.
U.S. Embassies and Consulates cannot recommend particular foreign fertility clinics. Parents should research their options carefully.
Because of the complexity that may be involved in having a child abroad using ART, it may be helpful for U.S. parents considering a foreign surrogacy arrangement to consult with an immigration attorney first.
If you are considering going abroad to have a child through use of assisted reproductive technology, please consider the following information carefully.
- Will My Child Acquire U.S. Citizenship at Birth?
- What Type of Evidence May Be Required to Establish My Child’s Claim to U.S. Citizenship?
- Will I Be Able to Obtain a Travel Document for My Child?
- Will I Be Able to List Myself and/or Partner As A Parent on My Child’s Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a U.S. Citizen (CRBA)?
- Other Important Issues
- Entering the United States
- Researching IVF Clinics Abroad
- Consult an Immigration Law Attorney Before You Go
1. Will My Child Acquire U.S. Citizenship at Birth?
The U.S. Department of State determines whether a child born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent acquired U.S. citizenship at birth
A child born abroad may acquire U.S. citizenship at birth if the parent/parents of the child meet the conditions prescribed in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
The U.S. Department of State interprets the INA to mean that a child born abroad must be biologically related to a U.S. citizen parent who meets the following statutory transmission requirements of INA 301 or 309 in order for the child to acquire U.S. citizenship at birth:
- A U.S. citizen father must be the genetic parent of the child and meet all other statutory requirements in order to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child at birth.
- A U.S. citizen mother must be the genetic and/or the gestational* and legal mother of the child at the time and place of the child’s birth and must meet all other statutory requirements in order to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child at birth. (*Gestational mother is the woman who carries and gives birth to the child)
Even if local law recognizes a surrogacy agreement and finds that U.S. parents are the legal parents of a child conceived and born abroad through ART, if the child does not have a biological connection to a U.S. citizen parent, the child will not be a U.S. citizen at birth.
In addition to establishing a biological relationship to the child, U.S. citizen parents must also establish that other transmission requirements have been met, such as having had certain periods of physical presence or a residence in the United States prior to the birth of the child. For more information about specific requirements, visit INA Sections 301 and 309.
The Department of State can only determine the U.S. citizenship status of a child born abroad after the child is born.
2. What Type of Evidence/Documentation May Be Required to Establish My Child’s Claim to U.S. Citizenship?
A U.S. citizen parent who has a biological child overseas, including via a foreign surrogate mother, may apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of an American Citizen (CRBA) and a U.S. passport for the child at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the country where the child was born.
For documents required for your case, consult the website for your nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. Parents must provide evidence to the local U.S. Embassy or Consulate of the child’s identity, birth, and citizenship. In an ART case, the parents may be requested to provide medical and documentary evidence of the child’s conception and birth and such other evidence to demonstrate the biological connection between parent and child, along with evidence of the parents’ identity, citizenship, parent’s requisite physical presence in the United States, and legal status as the child’s parent under local law.
Parents may also arrange for DNA tests of the child, using approved labs and procedures as described in our Information Sheet for Parents on U.S. Citizenship and DNA Testing.
3. Will I Be Able to Obtain a Travel Document for My Child?
If a child born to a foreign surrogate is not biologically related to a U.S. citizen parent, the child will not acquire U.S. citizenship automatically at birth and therefore will not be entitled to a U.S. passport or a Consular Report of Birth Abroad.
If your child is eligible to apply for a U.S. passport, please NOTE: In many cases under U.S. law, the legal parents of a child under 16 years old must both consent to the U.S. passport application. If, under local law, a surrogate mother is the legal mother of a child born through ART, then the surrogate mother would need to consent to passport issuance.
- View our passport for a minor child page for more information.
- Foreign Country Passports: In some countries, a child will also not acquire the citizenship of the country where he or she is born because the surrogate mother is not considered the parent of the child. As a result, the child may also not be entitled to a passport from the country in which he/she was born.
A CRBA is a citizenship document, not a parentage document. A CRBA certifies that a child born abroad is a U.S. citizen. A CRBA does not determine the identity of the child’s legal parents. Therefore, in general, the name/s listed on the CRBA is/are the U.S. citizen parent/s with a biological connection to the child. A second parent may be listed on the CRBA if the second parent demonstrates a legal parental relationship to the child under local law; the CRBA does not, however, serve as a record of that individual’s status.
5. Other Important Issues to Consider
- Entering the United States
- Researching ART Clinics Abroad
Fertility Clinic Errors Can Have Serious Consequences for Children Born Abroad Through ART The Department is aware of cases where foreign fertility clinics have substituted alternate donor sperm and eggs for the U.S. parents’ genetic material, either purposefully when the planned genetic material turned out not to be viable or through accidental laboratory errors. The intended parents learned of these undisclosed switches only when the parents obtained DNA tests after the child’s birth, sometimes as part of the process of documenting the child’s citizenship for the purposes of obtaining a U.S. passport. Sometimes, as a result of these errors, the child was born stateless and was unable to obtain travel documents to leave the country of birth.
U.S. Embassies and Consulates cannot recommend particular foreign fertility clinics. Parents should research their options carefully.
- Consult an Immigration Attorney Before You Go
Because of the complexity that may be involved in having a child abroad using ART, it may be helpful for U.S. parents considering a foreign surrogacy arrangement to consult with an immigration attorney first.