Surrogacy means that a woman (the surrogate mother) agrees to give birth to a child and hand over the child to someone else when it is born. Surrogacy is not allowed in Norway, but some people still choose to enter into surrogacy agreements with women in other countries.

There are no specific rules for determining/transferring who the mother and father of a child born after the use of egg donation/surrogacy are. This means that the woman who gives birth to the child is the child’s mother and that paternity is determined in the same way as for other children, as described in The Children Act.

Even if the egg or sperm is donated by a Norwegian citizen who wishes to receive the child, the child does not become Norwegian until parenthood has been transferred. When parenthood has been transferred, the child automatically becomes Norwegian.

Please contact the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (bufdir.no) (external website) if you have questions about surrogacy, parenthood and adoption.