Surrogacy

A background to Surrogacy Arrangements

Surrogacy arrangements are lawful in the UK, but are unenforceable. This means that surrogacy agreements are not legally binding. Any disputes would be determined by the Family Court based on what is the best interests of the child concerned.

There are a number of laws which regulate surrogacy within the UK, and UK surrogates receive expenses rather than commercial payments. It is a criminal offence for third parties to broker commercial surrogacy arrangements. If applying for a Parental Order, the court will have to retrospectively authorise any payments that do not relate to out of pocket expenses.

The surrogate mother is treated as the child's legal mother for all purposes under UK law until this is altered by a court order. If the surrogate mother is married, the husband of the surrogate mother will be treated as the child’s father. It is important for parents of children born through surrogacy, whether as a result of a domestic or international surrogacy arrangement, to apply for court orders in order to establish their parentage. In most cases this will be achieved by obtaining a Parental Order.

Providing the best support

Our family lawyers can support and guide you through the often emotional but exciting surrogacy process and help you build or extend your family through either domestic or international surrogacy.

We would be more than happy to talk through your individual circumstances.