European law

Under Council Directive (EC) 2006/54 (on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation), in particular Arts 4 and 14 thereof, a refusal to provide paid leave equivalent to maternity leave to a female worker who as a commissioning mother had had a baby through a surrogacy arrangement did not constitute discrimination on grounds of sex. Further, the situation of such a commissioning mother as regards the grant of adoptive leave was not within the scope of that directive. 

Council Directive (EC) 2000/78 (establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation), meant that a refusal to provide paid leave equivalent to maternity leave or adoptive leave to a female worker who was unable to bear a child and who had availed of a surrogacy arrangement did not constitute discrimination on the ground of disability.