“Reproductive technologies – reproductive rights? Medically assisted reproduction in French and in Greek Law: Different concepts but same type of protection”

Both French and Greek Law allow medically assisted reproduction. However, both jurisdictions differ considerably with respect to the methods they allow. For instance, French Law does not recognise surrogacy. In contrast, Greek Law allows surrogacy agreements providing that any financial agreement between the parties (the prospect parents and the surrogate mother) is excluded. The explanatory note of the first law establishes an “individual right to reproduction”, which is also constitutionally protected. In opposition to Greek Law, French Law does not establish a “right to reproduction”. Rather, legal methods of medically assisted reproduction in France fall under the protection of public health. This intervention attempts to demonstrate that even if surrogacy in Greece takes the form of an individual reproductive right, limitations imposed on its exercise do not differ from limitations imposed by public law on personal liberties on grounds of public order.