Below are some frequently asked questions relating to surrogacy and parental orders.  If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

A court can make a parental order (extinguishing the parentage of the surrogate mother) for a couple who are married, in a civil partnership, single or in an ‘enduring relationship’. This means that you are able to apply for a parental order under s.54A Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008.

If you (or your partner) are domiciled in the UK and want the child to be formally recognised in the UK as your child rather than the surrogate mother’s child, you will need a parental order regardless of any agreements reached or the legal status of the child in the country where the treatment is happening.

Yes. You must apply for a parental order within 6 months of the child being born.

In some recent cases, the court has granted a parental order even when the deadline has expired but this is on a case by case basis depending upon the facts of the case. If you are unable to obtain a parental order, there may be other options which we can explore with you.

No. Surrogacy in the UK is grounded in the concept that all parties freely consent to an order transferring the legal parentage of the child. If the surrogate mother refuses to consent to the transfer, she cannot be compelled.

There are other options available which we can discuss with you if this does occur.

No. Please see the section on surrogacy agreements.

Surrogacy cannot be for commercial reasons so you cannot ask for a fee in exchange for being a surrogate. However, the payment of reasonable expenses is permitted. There is no set list of ‘reasonable expenses’ and what is reasonable in one