Surrogacy Law in Bangladesh 2026: Parentage, Citizenship, Guardianship and the New Organ Transplant Act

Surrogacy law Bangladesh in 2026: a legal gap filled by older statutes

Surrogacy law Bangladesh has not yet been written. No Act of Parliament authorises, prohibits or regulates surrogacy, and no statute governs IVF clinics, donor gametes or embryo transfer. A 2024 study of Bangladeshi fertility providers found no regulation, no guidelines and no clinic registration system for assisted reproduction.[1] The legal consequences of a surrogacy arrangement are therefore decided by older laws that never contemplated it: the Evidence Act 1872 on legitimacy, personal law on parentage and inheritance, the Births and Deaths Registration Act 2004, the Citizenship Act 1951 and the Guardians and Wards Act 1890.

This guide explains how each of those laws treats a child born through surrogacy, in Bangladesh or abroad, and why guardianship remains the only secure route for many families. Because the questions overlap in practice, it also covers the other area of reproductive and transplant medicine where the law changed decisively in 2025 and 2026: organ donation, now governed by the Human Organ Transplantation Act 2026 (Act No. 53 of 2026).[7]

Summary: Bangladesh has no surrogacy statute and no law regulating assisted reproduction. Parentage of a surrogate-born child is decided by section 112 of the Evidence Act 1872 and personal law, both of which look to the woman who gives birth and her husband, so intended parents cannot rely on a contract or a clinic certificate. A child born abroad acquires Bangladeshi citizenship only through a parent who is a citizen, which the parent must prove to the mission. Guardianship under the Guardians and Wards Act 1890 is the lawful fallback. Organ donation, by contrast, is now tightly regulated by the Human Organ Transplantation Act 2026, which allows emotional donors and cadaveric donation but criminalises any trade in organs.

Key point: Silence in the statute book is not permission. A surrogacy agreement made in Bangladesh has no statutory backing, cannot transfer legal parenthood and is unlikely to be enforced by a court. Intended parents who proceed should assume that the birth mother, and her husband if she is married, will be treated as the child's legal parents until a court orders otherwise.

At a glance

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Table of Contents

What surrogacy law Bangladesh has on the statute book

The short answer is nothing specific. There is no surrogacy Act, no assisted reproductive technology Act and no rule made under any health statute that addresses gestational carriers, commissioning parents or the transfer of embryos. A content analysis of twenty active fertility providers, carried out between July and September 2023 and published in the Asian Bioethics Review in 2024, concluded that the sector operates without regulation or guidelines and without a registration system for ART clinics.[1] We have found no published government bill on surrogacy or assisted reproduction as at October 2026.

The same study noted that clinics concentrate in cities, rely on foreign affiliations for credibility and report success rates inconsistently.[1] For a patient, that means the clinic's own consent forms are often the only written terms of treatment. For a lawyer, it means every question about the resulting child must be answered from general law.

Traditional and gestational surrogacy

In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate's own egg is used, so she is both the genetic and the birth mother. In gestational surrogacy, an embryo created from the intended parents' gametes, or from donor gametes, is transferred to the surrogate, who has no genetic link to the child. The distinction matters medically and ethically, but Bangladeshi law, as it stands, does not draw it. The rules that decide parentage and registration look at birth and marriage, not at genetics.

Commercial and altruistic arrangements

Many jurisdictions permit only altruistic surrogacy, where the surrogate receives no more than her expenses. Bangladesh has no such rule, but the absence of a ban does not make a payment safe. A contract under which a woman is paid to carry a child and surrender it is open to challenge as contrary to public policy under the general law of contract, and any element of payment for a child can attract criminal scrutiny. Surrogacy law Bangladesh practitioners therefore treat commercial arrangements as legally unprotected.

Why "not prohibited" is not "permitted"

Three practical consequences follow. A clinic that performs embryo transfer for a surrogate is not breaking a surrogacy statute, but it is giving the intended parents no legal title to the child. A surrogate who changes her mind after birth cannot be compelled by contract to hand the child over. And intended parents who pay large sums have no specialised forum to recover them. Every surrogacy law Bangladesh question ultimately becomes a question of family law, evidence and guardianship.

Personal law, parentage and the religious setting

Bangladesh applies personal law to marriage, legitimacy, guardianship and inheritance. For Muslims, parentage of a child flows from a valid marriage, and legitimacy decides inheritance rights. Muslim law does not recognise adoption in the sense of tabanni, which would give a child born to others the status of a natural child; a child raised by a family under a care arrangement keeps his or her lineage, though the carers may leave up to one third of their estate to the child by will.[6] Hindu law, by contrast, permits the adoption of sons, and an adopted son stands in the same position as a natural son.[6]

Islamic scholarship is broadly hostile to surrogacy that introduces a third party's womb or gametes into procreation, because it is seen as confusing lineage. Some writers have explored gestational surrogacy using a married couple's own embryo as a narrow exception, but no Bangladeshi statute or court has adopted that view. Families should expect that registrars, kazis and courts will apply conventional rules. Our guide to Muslim inheritance law in Bangladesh explains how legitimacy feeds into succession.

Parentage under surrogacy law Bangladesh: section 112 of the Evidence Act

Section 112 of the Evidence Act 1872 provides that the fact that a person was born during the continuance of a valid marriage between his mother and any man, or within 280 days after its dissolution while the mother remained unmarried, is conclusive proof that he is the legitimate child of that man, unless it is shown that the spouses had no access to each other when the child could have been begotten.[2] The presumption is built around the woman who gives birth.

Applied to surrogacy, the rule produces uncomfortable results, and it is the starting point for any surrogacy law Bangladesh analysis. If the surrogate is married, the law presumes her husband to be the father, even where the embryo was created from the intended father's sperm. The only statutory rebuttal is non-access, not genetic evidence, and the courts treat the presumption as conclusive within its terms.[2] If the surrogate is unmarried, the presumption does not arise, but nothing in the Act then makes the intended father the legal father either.

Where the intended mother stands

No Bangladeshi law recognises a woman as the mother of a child she did not deliver. Even where the intended mother supplied the egg, the birth mother is, on the existing law, the mother. The intended mother therefore has no automatic right to custody, no right to register herself as the mother on the strength of a clinic document and no succession rights in respect of the child that do not depend on a will or gift.

The table below summarises the most common scenarios. On a phone, scroll it sideways.

DNA evidence and its limits

Families often assume that a DNA test will settle parentage. It will establish a genetic link, which is useful for a guardianship application, a citizenship claim or a foreign court. It does not by itself displace section 112, and it does not create maternity for an intended mother whose role was only genetic. A court deciding custody will weigh the evidence under the welfare test discussed below, not under the terms of the surrogacy agreement.

Birth registration and surrogacy law Bangladesh: the 2004 Act

Every birth must be registered. Section 8 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 2004 requires the father, mother, guardian or a prescribed person to give the information to the Registrar within 45 days of the birth.[3] The registration certificate is then the standard proof of age for a passport, marriage registration, admission to an educational institution, employment, a driving licence, the voter list and land registration.[3] A child without a certificate faces obstacles at almost every stage of life.

For a surrogate-born child, surrogacy law Bangladesh offers no special rule, and the difficulty lies in the parents' names. The Registrar records the parents on the basis of the birth information and supporting hospital records, which will name the woman who delivered the child. Supplying a birth record that names the intended mother as the woman who gave birth is a false statement, with consequences for the clinic, the informant and the validity of every later document built on it. Our guide to marriage registration in Bangladesh explains why registration errors are expensive to correct years later.

Births abroad

The Act extends to Bangladeshis abroad: for births and deaths of Bangladeshis outside the country, the Ambassador of Bangladesh in that country, or an officer he delegates, acts as Registrar.[3] A child born to Bangladeshi parents through surrogacy overseas will therefore usually be registered at the mission, which will ask how the child's relationship to the Bangladeshi parent is proved.

Cross-border surrogacy law Bangladesh issues: citizenship, passports and travel

Most Bangladeshi families who use surrogacy do so abroad, in countries where the arrangement is lawful and where a local court or birth certificate names them as parents. The legal problems start when the child must travel home. Bangladesh does not recognise foreign surrogacy orders by statute, so the mission and the Department of Immigration and Passports will look to Bangladeshi law to decide whether the child is a citizen.

Citizenship by descent

Section 5 of the Citizenship Act 1951 makes a person born after the Act's commencement a citizen of Bangladesh by descent if his father or mother is a citizen at the time of birth. The words "father or mother" were substituted for "father" by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2009, with effect from 31 December 2008.[4] Where the parent is a citizen by descent only, the child born abroad acquires citizenship only if the birth is registered at a Bangladesh consulate or mission, or the parent is in the service of the Government at the time of birth.[4]

For surrogacy, the decisive question is who the "father or mother" is. A foreign birth certificate naming the intended parents is evidence, but the mission is applying Bangladeshi law. Where the intended father is the genetic father, DNA evidence strengthens the claim considerably. Where neither intended parent has a genetic link, and the foreign certificate rests only on a surrogacy contract or court order, citizenship by descent is much harder to establish.

Passports and dual nationality

A Bangladeshi passport application for a child is supported by the birth registration certificate.[3] If the child has also acquired the nationality of the country of birth, the family should travel on that passport and regularise the Bangladeshi position afterwards. Our guide to the dual nationality certificate in Bangladesh explains the process for children who hold a second citizenship.

Exit rules in the country of birth matter just as much. Some surrogacy destinations restrict or have closed their programmes to foreigners, and a child may be unable to leave without a local court order. Intended parents should obtain written advice in both jurisdictions before treatment begins, not after the birth. The planning sequence below reflects the order in which problems usually arise.

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Contracts, payments and disputes

Surrogacy agreements are drafted in practice, often by clinics abroad, and Bangladeshi parties sometimes sign supplementary agreements at home. None has statutory force in Bangladesh. A court asked to enforce a promise to surrender a child, or to recover money paid for that promise, is likely to refuse on public policy grounds and to decide custody separately on the child's welfare. Payments made through informal channels also raise foreign exchange and anti-money laundering questions.

When the surrogate refuses to hand over the child

If the birth mother keeps the child, the intended parents' remedy is not a contract claim but an application for guardianship or custody. Family courts hear guardianship and custody cases, and the court applies the welfare principle together with the personal law of the minor. Our guides to child custody and guardianship in Bangladesh and family court procedure explain the forum and the evidence.

When the intended parents withdraw

The reverse problem is less discussed but equally real: intended parents who separate, fall ill or simply refuse to take the child. The surrogate is then the legal mother of a child she did not plan to raise. Bangladeshi law offers her no claim against the commissioning couple beyond general contract or tort, and the child's welfare becomes a matter for the court and the social services system. Any arrangement should provide for this risk expressly, even though enforceability is uncertain.

The lawful alternative: guardianship under the Guardians and Wards Act

For families who cannot or will not use surrogacy, and for those whose surrogacy arrangement has left the child's status unclear, the Guardians and Wards Act 1890 is the principal route to legal responsibility for a child. Section 7 allows the court to appoint or declare a guardian of a minor's person or property where it is satisfied that this is for the minor's welfare.[5] Under section 8, the application may be made by the person who wishes to be guardian, by any relative or friend of the minor, or by the Collector.[5]

Section 17 requires the court to be guided by the welfare of the minor, consistently with the law to which the minor is subject. It considers the child's age, sex and religion, the proposed guardian's character and capacity, nearness of kinship, any wishes of a deceased parent and existing relationships, and may consider an older child's own preference.[5]

Restrictions that affect foreign and dual-national families

Two provisions matter for cross-border families. Section 7 provides that a person who is not a citizen of Bangladesh shall not be appointed or declared guardian of a minor who is a Bangladeshi citizen.[5] Section 26 requires a court-appointed guardian of the person to obtain the court's leave before removing the ward from the court's jurisdiction, except for purposes prescribed by rules.[5] Families who plan to raise a child abroad must build these limits into the application and the travel plan.

Guardianship is not adoption

Guardianship ends when the child reaches majority, and it does not by itself make the child an heir.[6] For Muslim families, care under a guardianship order is the closest lawful equivalent to the Islamic concept of kafala: the child is raised and protected, but keeps his or her lineage. Succession is then provided for through a will, within the one-third limit, or through lifetime gifts. Hindu families may consider adoption under Hindu law instead.[6] Our Islamic family law practice advises on the combination of guardianship, gifts and wills.

Organ donation law in Bangladesh: the Human Organ Transplantation Act 2026

Where surrogacy law Bangladesh remains a gap, transplant law was rewritten in 2025 and 2026. The Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1999 allowed living donation only between listed close relatives and punished trading with three to seven years' imprisonment and a fine of at least Tk 3 lakh.[9] A 2018 amendment widened the circle of relatives to include grandparents, grandchildren and cousins.[9]

On 5 December 2019 the High Court Division, deciding a writ petition brought by a mother whose earlier kidney donation to her daughter had failed, directed the government to amend the Act within six months to allow emotional donors, and suggested nine safeguards drawn from Indian transplant rules.[10] The interim government finally acted through the Human Organ Transplantation Ordinance 2025 (Ordinance No. 66 of 2025). Parliament replaced it with the Human Organ Transplantation Act 2026, passed on 9 April 2026 and published after assent on 10 April 2026 as Act No. 53 of 2026.[7] [8]

The 2026 Act is deemed to have come into force on 19 November 2025, the date of the Ordinance. Section 23 repeals both the 1999 Act and the Ordinance and saves acts done under them.[7] Section numbers below refer to the 2026 Act.

Who can donate: a near relative or an emotional donor

A living person who is healthy and of sound mind may donate an organ whose removal will not impair his or her normal life to a near relative (section 4(1)), or to a recipient as an emotional donor (section 4(2)).[7] The definition of near relative in section 2(7) covers parents, children, siblings and spouses; blood-related uncles and aunts on both sides and grandparents and grandchildren; first cousins on both sides; nephews and nieces; and half-siblings.[7] The Business Standard reported that the list rose from 22 to 30 relationships.[8]

An emotional donor is a person, related or not, who decides voluntarily and knowingly to donate because of a long-standing acquaintance with the recipient (section 2(8)). Under section 8, the donor must be over 18, mentally sound and able to consent, acting free of financial inducement or pressure, not a near relative but long acquainted with the recipient, and recommended by the national emotional donor committee. Drug addiction, commercial motive and disqualifying illness bar a donor.[7] Neither near relative nor emotional donor status is required for eye, skin, tissue or bone marrow transplants (section 4(3)).

Age and medical eligibility

Section 7 sets the age limits: 18 to 65 for a living donor, relaxable for bone marrow; 2 to 70 for a brain-dead donor; and 2 to 70 for a recipient, with priority for recipients aged 15 to 50 except in cornea, skin and tissue cases.[7] Donors must be free of listed diseases, including most cancers, kidney disease, malignant hypertension and untreated systemic infection, and HIV and hepatitis bar donation except in eye, bone marrow and, with board approval, liver cases.[7]

Hospital approval and the boards

Only a hospital approved by the government may carry out transplants, and the government must decide an application within 60 working days (section 3). Unlike the 2018 regime, which exempted specialised public units from prior approval, section 3(4) now requires approval for those units too.[7] [9] Each transplant passes through a layered structure of boards, summarised below.

For a living donation between near relatives, the relationship board under section 14 requires a national identity card, passport or digital birth certificate; police verification where applicable; an affidavit attested by a judicial or executive magistrate; a relationship certificate from the union parishad, municipality or city corporation; the nikahnama where relevant; family photographs; and DNA testing where applicable.[7]

The emotional donor committee under section 16 must verify that no money has changed hands or been promised, examine the donor's motive and the documentary proof of the relationship, check old photographs, exclude brokers, review both parties' income records or bank accounts for the previous three financial years and assess the donor's mental health.[7] Those checks track the nine safeguards the High Court suggested in 2019.[10]

Cadaveric donation and brain death

Under section 5, organs may be removed from a deceased person if he or she donated them during life; failing that, if a legal heir gives written permission after brain death is declared; if no claimant comes forward within 24 hours of the declaration, with the hospital's administrative authority; or, for eyes, skin and tissue, with the permission of the deputy commissioner where the body is held elsewhere.[7]

Section 6 requires brain death to be declared by a committee of at least three specialists in medicine, critical care, neurology and anaesthesiology, none of whom, nor any near relative of whom, may be involved in the transplant. The patient must have been in a coma of known cause for at least 12 hours and on a ventilator, with all brainstem reflexes absent, confirmed by an EEG of at least 30 minutes or cerebral angiography and an apnoea test. Children aged 2 to 13 require at least 12 hours' EEG observation.[7]

A national cadaveric committee chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of Bangladesh Medical University oversees retrieval (section 10). Hospitals with intensive care units may retrieve organs through a coordinator (section 11), and allocation gives priority to persons named by the donor, those on the national register under section 17, younger patients, the most critically ill and those geographically nearer.[7] Section 12 provides for burial or cremation of cadaveric donors with national honours and recognition for their families. Section 13 creates a swap programme for incompatible near relative pairs.[7] Practice remains thin: the country's first cadaveric kidney transplants took place on 18 January 2023, using the kidneys of 20-year-old Sarah Islam.[11]

Offences and penalties

Section 18 prohibits buying or selling any human organ, taking any benefit in exchange for one, and advertising or promoting such dealings. Under section 19(1), giving false information about a near relationship, or encouraging, inducing or threatening someone to do so, is punishable with rigorous imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to Tk 5 lakh, or both. Any other breach, or abetting one, carries up to three years' rigorous imprisonment, a fine of up to Tk 10 lakh, or both, under section 19(2).[7]

A convicted doctor's registration with the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council is liable to cancellation (section 19(3)). Where a hospital commits an offence, its owner, director or manager is deemed guilty unless he proves lack of knowledge and due diligence, the hospital's transplant approval is cancelled, a fine may be imposed and its licence may be suspended (section 20). Offences are investigated and tried under the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 (section 21).[7] Separately, the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act 2012 lists the removal of organs for the purpose of trade within its definition of exploitation, so a broker who moves a donor by deception may face trafficking charges as well.[14]

Kidney trafficking and enforcement in 2025 and 2026

Organ donation reform responded to a long-running trade. Kalai upazila in Joypurhat has been the centre of reporting for more than a decade, and a 2023 study in BMJ Global Health, as reported by Al Jazeera, estimated that one in 35 adults in the area had sold a kidney, with 83 per cent citing poverty.[12] Donors told reporters they received between Tk 3 lakh and Tk 3.5 lakh against far larger promised sums.[12]

Most transplants in the reported cases took place in India, where brokers fabricated family trees, notarised certificates, national identity cards and even DNA results to satisfy authorisation committees. Delhi police arrested a transplant surgeon in July 2024 who had reportedly operated on about 15 Bangladeshi patients between 2021 and 2023.[12] Bangladesh police told Al Jazeera in 2025 that undercover investigators had been deployed and brokers arrested.[12]

The 2026 Kalai prosecution

Enforcement continued after the new law took effect. On 12 August 2026 Kalai police arrested Abdus Sattar, described as a key broker, in Bogura; he was sent to jail the next day and, according to police, faces five cases at Kalai police station. The complainant, a man from Gaibandha, alleged that he was promised Tk 10 lakh, paid Tk 50,000, taken to Nepal for the operation and returned without the balance. He filed the case on 13 June 2026, and the court directed Kalai police to record it.[13]

The report cited sections 9 and 10(1) of the 1999 Act.[13] Because the alleged conduct took place in January 2026, after the Ordinance and the 2026 Act's deemed commencement on 19 November 2025, prosecutors and defence counsel will need to align the charges with the law in force on the date of each act.[7] The case also shows how routes are shifting from India to Nepal.

Practical guidance for families, donors and hospitals

For families considering surrogacy, the advice is cautious but not discouraging. Take legal advice in Bangladesh and in the country of treatment before signing anything. Use the intended parents' own gametes where medically possible, because a genetic link is the strongest evidence available for citizenship and guardianship. Keep every clinic, embryology and DNA record, and expect to apply for guardianship if the child's status is challenged. Our cross-border family matters practice coordinates advice across jurisdictions.

• Do not falsify the birth record: a certificate that names a woman who did not give birth undermines every later passport, inheritance and citizenship step.[3]
• Prove citizenship early: assemble evidence that a parent was a Bangladeshi citizen at the date of birth before approaching the mission.[4]
• Plan succession: a surrogate-born child whose legitimacy is uncertain may not inherit on intestacy; use a will or gifts.[6]
• Check guardian eligibility: a non-citizen cannot be appointed guardian of a Bangladeshi minor under section 7.[5]

For transplant patients and donors

Organ donation in Bangladesh now has a clear lawful path. Use an approved hospital, assemble the section 14 documents proving the near relative link in advance and, for an emotional donor, expect the committee to examine finances and history closely. Never pay, promise or accept money. Hospitals should review their approvals under section 3, constitute medical boards under section 9, appoint a transplant coordinator and record board decisions carefully, because owners and managers carry personal criminal exposure under section 20.[7] Our guide to medical negligence in Bangladesh covers clinical liability when a procedure goes wrong.

What to watch in 2026 and 2027

Four developments will shape this area. First, the rules the government may make under section 22 of the 2026 Act, which will settle procedural detail on living donation, retrieval and the national register.[7] Second, whether the emotional donor committee can verify motives at scale without becoming a bottleneck or a channel for disguised payment. Third, the outcome of prosecutions such as the Kalai case.[13]

Fourth, and most significant for families, whether Bangladesh finally regulates assisted reproduction. Clinic registration, consent standards and rules on donor gametes would be a natural first step, with surrogacy law Bangladesh following once the religious and social questions are settled.[1] Until then, intended parents must work within the Evidence Act, the Citizenship Act and the Guardians and Wards Act, and should take advice before treatment begins, not after the child is born.

Frequently asked questions

What does surrogacy law Bangladesh allow?

No statute permits or prohibits surrogacy. Bangladesh has no surrogacy or assisted reproduction law, so arrangements have no legal protection and parentage is decided by general law.[1]

Who is the legal mother of a surrogate-born child?

On the existing law, the woman who gives birth. No Bangladeshi statute transfers maternity to an intended mother, even one who supplied the egg.[2]

Who is presumed to be the father?

If the surrogate is married, section 112 of the Evidence Act presumes her husband to be the father, rebuttable only by proof of non-access.[2]

Can a surrogacy contract be enforced in a Bangladeshi court?

It is unlikely. A promise to surrender a child is open to challenge on public policy grounds, and custody is decided on the child's welfare under the Guardians and Wards Act.[5]

How soon must a birth be registered?

Within 45 days of the birth, under section 8 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 2004. Births of Bangladeshis abroad are registered through the Bangladesh mission.[3]

Will a child born through surrogacy abroad be a Bangladeshi citizen?

Only if the father or mother was a Bangladeshi citizen at the time of birth, and the mission is satisfied of that parentage. If the parent is a citizen by descent only, the birth must be registered at the mission.[4]

Can Muslims adopt a child in Bangladesh?

Not in the sense of changing the child's lineage. Muslim families use guardianship under the Guardians and Wards Act 1890 and provide for the child by will or gift.[5] [6]

Who can donate a kidney under the 2026 Act?

A near relative within section 2(7), or an emotional donor over 18 with a long-standing acquaintance with the recipient, approved by the national committee and acting without payment.[7]

Is cadaveric organ donation allowed in Bangladesh?

Yes. Organs may be retrieved after brain death is declared by a three-specialist committee, with the donor's lifetime consent or a legal heir's written permission.[7]

What is the penalty for selling a kidney?

Organ trading breaches section 18 and carries up to three years' rigorous imprisonment, a fine of up to Tk 10 lakh, or both; false relationship claims carry up to two years and Tk 5 lakh.[7]