How is legal parentage established in Ontario when a child is born through surrogacy?

Ontario's Children's Law Reform Act sets out a specific route to legal parentage for children born through surrogacy, separate from the ordinary rule that the person who gives birth is a parent. Where a surrogate carries a child for intended parents under a pre-conception arrangement, the intended parents can become the child's legal parents without adopting, provided certain conditions are met: the surrogate confirms in writing, after the birth, that she consents to the intended parents being recognized as parents and that she does not intend to be a parent herself, and the intended parents meet the Act's other requirements, such as being parties to a written agreement made before conception. When those conditions are satisfied, the intended parents can generally be registered as the child's parents directly, without a court application.

If the surrogate does not provide that confirmation, if there is a dispute, or if the situation falls outside the automatic route, a court application for a declaration of parentage becomes necessary. Because outcomes turn on timing and paperwork, intended parents should have a written agreement in place before conception and get advice on what confirmation the surrogate needs to sign after birth.