If you and your spouse used an assisted reproduction procedure (artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, embryo implantation), you automatically recognize any child born as a result of the procedure as yours.
Filiation of a child born of assisted procreation means acknowledging as one’s own a child born of a parental project using the egg or sperm or of a third party with or without medical assistance.
Assisted procreation may take place in a clinic by
- artificial insemination using donor sperm;
- in vitro fertilization;
- implantation of an embryo in the woman’s uterus.
Assisted procreation may also take place elsewhere than in a clinic by
- sexual intercourse with a man who has agreed to provide his sperm and not be the child’s father;
- artificial insemination without medical assistance using donor sperm.
In the case of a child born of assisted procreation, the mother’s spouse is considered to be the father or the second mother of the child. Both parents are entered on the act of birth. Filiation by assisted procreation creates the same rights and obligations as filiation by blood.
A person who donates eggs or sperm cannot claim filiation with the child, unless the child was conceived by way of sexual intercourse. The biological father of the child may then claim paternity. He has one year following the child's birth to do so. In that case, kinship of the mother's spouse is challenged since, under the law, a child can have only two parents.
Before resorting to assisted procreation, it is advisable to draft and sign a document that acknowledges the couple’s parental project and that may be used in the case of denial or contestation of filiation.
Denial of filiation
If the mother’s spouse agreed to the parental project, he or she cannot refuse to acknowledge the child as his or her own. In the case of a couple who is married or in a civil union, the mother's spouse is considered, under the law, as the father or the second mother.
In the case of a couple in a de facto union, if the mother's spouse agreed to the parental project, he or she is liable toward the child and the mother. If the mother's spouse denies filiation, he or she may be required to compensate the mother.
Contestation of filiation
If the mother's spouse did not agree to the parental project or can prove that the child was not born of assisted procreation, he or she may contest filiation and disavow the child.
No person may contest the filiation of a child solely because the child was born of a parental project involving assisted procreation.
Confidentiality
Personal information concerning the sperm or egg donor is confidential.
However, the court may allow the information to be transmitted to the child’s physician or a descendant if the information is necessary to provide care.
The legal provisions related to the filiation of a child born of assisted procreation apply to:
- any person or couple who wants to use assisted procreation;
- any person who wants to deny or contest filiation with a child born of assisted procreation.
Note
A same-sex couple consisting of two men cannot use assisted procreation, but they may adopt a child.
The woman who carried the child is considered the mother of the child. For this reason, any contract whereby a woman agrees to bear a child for someone else (surrogate mother) is null.
