Time

Person Speaking,

lower thirds/ text on screen

Dialogue

00:00:16

Dr Peristeris

We did an oocyte puncturing last Friday. We have taken out 11 embryos.

00:00:28

VO

The Genesis Clinic in Athens. Dr. Peristeris’s patients have travelled far to be here.

00:00:33

Dr Peristeris

We preferred to let the embryos develop until the 5^th day. This allows us to higher the chances of success. Can you translate?

00:00:48

VO

Accompanied by an interpreter, this Chinese couple will benefit from a surrogate motherhood. They have travelled more than 7000 km to flee the law of their country. In China, surrogacy is illegal.

00:01:03

Dr Peristeris

This morning I saw blastocysts in the microscope and they looked perfect. In an hour we will make the transfer of these 3 embryos or two. We will implant them in the surrogate mother, who is very happy about all this and who is waiting impatiently for this moment.

00:01:30

Dr Peristeris

This particular lady had a problem: she had a total hysterectomy so she couldn’t have any other children. She already has one child. So she decided that she would use a surrogate mother to fulfil her dream.

00:01:50

Dr Peristeris

You’re going to tell them that you prefer Greece to the U.S.!

00:01:56

Chinese man

We could have done it in England, in Germany or in the U.S. … I chose Greece because I love Greece! Rhodes, Mykonos, Santorini, every year we spend a week in the islands.

00:02:27

VO

Here, in Greece, it’s easy to find a surrogate mother. In England, the candidates are rare, while in the U.S. the procedure would have cost them five times more than in Greece.

The operation is delicate. It isn’t the Chinese couple’s gynaecologist but the boss of the clinic, Doctor Pantos, who will implant the embryos in the surrogate mother’s uterus, a Georgian woman.  

00:02:51

Dr Peristeris

We always keep this picture as a souvenir and of course we always give it to the family that is going to have the baby.

00:03:03

VO

A souvenir from the first visit, while waiting for the next trip. If all goes well, the Chinese couple will come back a few days before the surrogate mother’s labour. They will follow the pregnancy from a distance.

00:03:18

VO

The sun and the citadel of the Acropolis are not the only attractions in Athens anymore. Couples come from all over the world to find a solution to their infertility problems. In 2002, Greece became the second European country – after Great Britain – to legalise surrogate motherhood as an altruistic act.

But by removing the residency condition for couples and for the surrogate mother in 2004, and by supporting de facto the two still lucrative sectors of its economy - tourism and reproductive medicine -

Isn’t Greece sacrificing the ethics behind its legal framework?

00:04:10

Receptionist

Yes, Monday. At what time?

00:04:19

VO

The Chinese couple has not chosen this Athenian clinic randomly. It is the biggest centre of assisted medical procreation in the country.  

For its director, Dr Pantos, conceiving babies is just a business like any other and the photos sent by his patients represent the best commercial argument.

00:04:36

Dr. Pantos

We always feel that these babies are my babies and that we have delivered and we are very, very proud to have them. You can see, all of them are smiling and happy.

00:04:49

VO

His 40 000 miracle babies earned him the nickname “Fertility Elvis”. The walls of his clinic also show him featured in the national and international press.

00:05:04

Dr. Pantos

This is my interview on CNN… and this is the interview about the grandmother. Here it says in Greek: “A grandmother delivers her grandchildren.”

00:05:14

VO

10 years ago, his clinic was to the first to carry out surrogate motherhood. A pioneer in his country, the strict Orthodox and father of 8 performs around fifty surrogate motherhoods and 5000 in-vitro fertilizations per year.

00:05:37

Dr. Pantos

We are doing at least a third of the cycles in Greece, just ourselves. But we have hundreds couples coming, as I said, from all over the world. From China, from India, we have lots of couples from Australia, we have couples from Canada, we have couples from the States. They come here for our excellent pregnancy rates because of legal reasons: in some countries egg donation or surrogacy is not allowed, here in Greece it is. So we have a very flexible law here in Greece, which allows these procedures. And also because the price is lower than most countries. For example, in the States it’s at least five times more expensive than in Greece. Also Greece offers a unique environment, very nice weather, lots of islands, places to go and relax, and so it’s an ideal place to be able to get pregnant.

00:06:36

VO

To prove his point, the doctor even allows television cameras into the operation room.

00:06:49

TV Presenter

Helena, would you like to start? Guide us through what is happening?

00:06:56

Helena

Of course. We are assisting the first step of the in-vitro fertilisation. The doctor will explain exactly what is happening during this phase. Doctor, what are you doing?

00:07:09

Dr Sfakianoudis 

We are in the final phase… We are realising the puncture of the oocytes. Before that, we have followed a procedure of ovary stimulation, then we move on to the taking out. 

00:07:30

VO

Namastee, a very popular private talk show, is shooting live. In-vitro fertilisation, artificial insemination, surrogacy… everything will be reviewed.

00:07:38

Dr Tarlatzis 

Greece is a secondary destination for the nation, but for surrogacy it’s one of the primary destinations. In view of the recent financial crisis, and then the government wanted to increase the income so they decided to promote medical tourism. Obviously, the legislators, I believe, were not fully aware of the ramifications of the technique. They thought, it’s a simple procedure, like having an appendectomy. But the truth of the matter is that of course it’s a much, much more complicated procedure, which has a lot of potential problems down the road.

00:08:30

VO

Today, there are about sixty clinics for procreation assistance in Greece. That’s six times more than in Great Britain for six times fewer inhabitants.

But to become a top surrogacy destination, the country primarily needs a great number of women who are ready to become surrogate mothers.

However, in a very traditional society, surrogacy is taboo and Greek women are unlikely to lend their wombs. Those who do it are often helping a family member.

A week after the embryo transfer, Dr Peristeris receives the Chinese couple’s surrogate mother. This Georgian woman, who is raising her 8-year-old daughter by herself, does not want to be on camera, as her family does not know about her doings. 

In his waiting room, there are several surrogate mothers, all from eastern Europe. They are between 20 and 35 years old.

Maria is having twins and is predicted to go into labour in less than four weeks. She is Bulgarian, 35 years old and this is not her first surrogacy. 

00:09:45

Dr Peristeris 

Is everything ok, Maria?

00:09:49

Maria

Yes.

00:09:54

VO

2 years ago Maria gave birth to a boy, who she carried for a French-Greek couple.

00:10:00

Dr. Peristeris

This is the heart of the right baby. Excellent, very good. So one baby is 2 kilos 110g. Now we measure the baby girl.

Yes, it’s during this period that the babies are growing well.

What we do with Maria and with other surrogate mothers is we try to feel that they have a great mission, that the babies that they are carrying, they see them as their own babies. Of course they will give them to the other parents, but we would like them to enjoy all that period, because you know, they have a pride from what they are doing because they have the feeling that they are offering something really big.

00:10:55

Maria

I am happy to know that the babies are growing well and not because I am thinking about keeping them. Everyone should have the chance to have a child, just like I did. 

00:11:

VO

Maria lives in the neighbourhood of Agios Nicolaus, one of the poorest places in Athens. These downgraded, deserted buildings have slowly filled with poor tenants from abroad.

Maria moved in at the beginning of her pregnancy. She has been working as a maid for a year, for the couple whose babies she is now expecting

00:11:48

Maria

I am not embarrassed about what I am doing. I am not embarrassed because I am doing it for a family. Why lie, since I know what I am doing and I don’t think that it is something bad.

I decided to do it. I thought: we’ll see what happens! And there you have it, it’s done, there are two… twins!

I signed a document saying that I am the surrogate mother but there is no question of money. It says that I accept to become a surrogate mother for the family and that the day that I go into labour, the child will be theirs. We haven’t talked about money, but if the family wants to give a present after the labour: sure! But up until now I don’t know anything! I don’t know!”

00:13:05

VO

While money may not be Maria’s motivation. her friend Paula is not so sure.  Young and unemployed, the single mother had to leave her daughter in Bulgaria.  She is hesitant about becoming a surrogate mother in order for her daughter to come to Greece.

00:13:16

Friend

I’m still not sure whether I will be able to do it but I am thinking about it. It something that demands you to be strong, it’s not easy… Because I have children and when you do that, you have to be sure that your own children will be okay with it.

00:13:38

VO

Maria did not have a hard time convincing Dany, her 17-year-old son whom she is raising on her own. In his view, his mother had the choice between lending her womb and living in the streets after having lost her job as a maid.

00:13:50

Dany

When she told me, I did not want her to do it. But later on I told myself: she has been living in Greece for a long time and even working she is not able to save up and buy a house, a house of our own. She told me she wanted to do that, that she didn’t have a job, that it was the only way to save up. We will have a house, no more concerns about rent or the fear of being kicked out. We will have a home. 

00:14:40

VO

If Maria refuses to unveil her true motivations, it is because in Greece the law prohibits payment for surrogacy. However, up to 10,00£ can be paid to cover fees related to pregnancy.

00:14:57

VO

500 km from Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Professor Katerina Fountedaki teaches Family Law. She was part of the National Commission which prepared the law authorizing surrogacy in 2002. Back then, the motivations for surrogacy were based more strictly on altruism, reserved only for women under the age of 50 who were in a relationship and incapable of procreation: a preventing the commodification of the body … at least in theory.  

00:15:27

Prof Fountedaki 

Surrogate mothers are considered… genetic material.

00:15:40

Prof Fountedaki 

We needed this idea of altruism because otherwise we would have had, that is Greek law, constitutional law problems because if we say that a woman can lend her uterus and become a surrogate mother, being paid for that would undoubtedly be seen as going against the constitution by the tribunals. I am sure of that. So, we have to keep, to preserve the rules of altruism but you also have to be realistic and realise that thinking that the altruism must either be absolute or not exist: this will lead to black money or leave us with no surrogate mothers. 

00:16:27

VO

Before initiating the procedure, the future surrogate mother has to sign a contract with the requesting couple and initiate proceedings before the Court of Justice, claiming that she will not ask for payment. But in reality, money under the table is common, as Master Konstantinos Rokas explains. He advises foreign couples not to intervene in their negotiations with the surrogate mothers. 

00:16:50

Master Konstantinos Rokas

Greek law and decisions of the Greek authority on surrogacy predicts a maximum of 10 000 euros but what I have seen and read and from experience, the real compensation exceeds this amount… I think that an average sum that is given to the surrogate mothers ranges from 20 000 to 25 000 euros. It’s not a huge sum because we are, after all, dealing with a very direct implication and of a very serious engagement but it is also a considerable amount for a family in Greece, not just during this period of crisis, but also before the crisis. 

00:17:54

VO

Thirteen years after the legislation of surrogacy, Greece has plunged into a deep financial and economical crisis. A quarter of the population is unemployed. Salaries and retirements have been cut by 30%.

But the poorest are those women who came from eastern and Balkan neighbouring countries, working illegally as maids or caretakers for 3 euros per hour. For them, the temptation of lending their wombs is great.

According to a recent study conducted by the Greek ethics committee, 2 out of 3 surrogate mothers are foreigners: Albanian, Georgian or Bulgarian, like Maria.

00:18:54

Maria

They work all week in houses with grandfathers, grandmothers… They live with the old people that they take care of. Like all the women that are here… And Sunday is the only rest day. They come here to have fun, to forget about the pains of the week.

00:19:40

VO

They all have left Bulgaria, one of the poorest countries in Europe, in the hope of a better life, leaving their children behind. But during the crisis, their small salaries aren’t sufficient for them to get by on.

00:20:20

Paula

What Maria does? She is helping people who cannot have children, with the help of God, at least that’s my point of view. Maria is not the only one. Many women do that. I don’t see anything unusual about it. That’s it.

00:20:50

VO

How do these women get in touch with complete strangers? In Greece, unlike in the US or Ukraine, there are no agencies that recruit and pay surrogate mothers.

00:21:00

Dr Tarlatzis 

If the couple is coming from abroad, there is no way that they will know Greek ladies that would be willing as surrogates: somebody has to bring them in contact. And therefore, again, somebody, I guess, in the units where they do that, somebody acts as an intermediary, and this is strictly forbidden by the law. So again, here there is a risk for the colleagues who get involved in that, obviously, on the other hand, if nobody gets involved, how are they going to find the surrogate? So I think this is one of the issues, outstanding issues, that need to be addressed, either by the authority or by the legislator, clarifying what is going to happen, and especially if this is done to a large scale. And it’s a different thing if you become a hub, then couples keep coming and coming, then you have to have a big number of surrogates. Who is going to organize that?

00:22:05

VO

Hypocritical laws mean that surrogacy goes hand in hand with human traffic and clandestine networks.  Impenetrable industries headed by go-betweens. One of them, of Georgian origin has accepted to talk anonymously.

Like numerous Balkan girls she has started by giving oocytes to strangers, being paid between 1200 and 2000 euros.

00:22:35

Anonymous

There is more demand for people from Georgia. They don’t ask as much for others. The Russians and the Georgians are in high demand because they have green, blue eyes… For the oocyte donors, the physical appearance is important but not for the surrogate mothers because they don’t influence the child. 

00:23:00

VO

And with that, the intermediary composed a pool of potential surrogates.

00:23:09

Interviewer

How do foreign couple do to find a surrogate mother in Greece?

00:23:17

AN

Through doctors and acquaintances.

00:23:22

I

How do the doctors find surrogate mothers?

00:23:24

AN

They find them thanks to me. They can’t find them alone, without intermediaries.

00:23:30

I

Do you know the price for the surrogate mothers?

00:23:31

AN

It depends. I am the one who concludes the agreement. It goes through me and the lawyer. I am the one who negotiates the affair with the couples. Once, a couple offered me 40 000 euros.

00:23:51

VO

The intermediary refuses to say how much and who is paying for her services, or if she will return the funds to the surrogate mother once the contract is signed

(00:24:02) It’s impossible to know the exact number of surrogacies completed in Greece. In 2005, the law established an independent authority that controls the activity of fertility centres. A kind of surrogacy police. Thjs so-called E.A.I.Y.A., has been inactive for 5 years, its members resigned to protest against the lack of means.

It was reactivated in 2014 but according to the new president, Pr Antzaklys, the situation has not evolved.

00:24:35

Pr Antzaklys

This law exists since 2005 but presidential decree is missing for it to be applied.

They don’t have to register to us until we have this law. Because when we will have this law, are going to visit them and give them authorization so for sure we will know how many they are, what they are doing, how many employees they have, who is the scientific responsible for this unit, who is the commercial… It is very crucial that we have this law. And I am sure that we are going to have it in the few weeks… Maybe. 

00:25:33

VO

In the meantime, anything is possible. There are no safeguards and nobody is opposing the commodification of the female body today.

Not even the orthodox church.

In this Byzantine church of Thessaloniki, the seminarians join a theology and ethics class: the speciality of the orthodox father Vassilios Kaliakmanis.

He clarifies his church’s position, which is often presented as being absent from the surrogacy debate.

00:26:15

Father Vassilios Kaliakmanis

In the occidental world where the church has tried to control et band certain things in people’s lives, the result is contrary. The orthodox church wants to be next to Man. Do we perceive men and women as reproduction machines to fabricate children? Do we desecrate love? Does life become artificial? We do not want to be alarmists, we want to help people in a discreet way, inform them in the best way possible. They have to be able to carry the weight of their decision. The love and the mystery of life cannot be enclosed in a law. A law is a limit, a base. I do not think that we have to or can have a child at whatever price. The price is often very high.

00:27:30

VO

According to orthodox Greek tradition, the child is named the day of his baptism. If it’s a boy, he will get the name of his grandfather. If it’s a girl, it will be that of her grandmother.

According to the law, filiations will be established the day of the birth and the baby will have the Greek nationality if its parents are Greek. 

But what about all the babies that were brought into the world by surrogate mothers?

While waiting for European or international legislation, many of these babies remain unrecognised by their country.