FAQ

In a surrogacy case, are the commissioning parents the legal parents at birth?  No they are not under the current law. The legal mother is the surrogate and any spouse she may have is likely to be the other legal parent. This is why it is crucial for commissioning parents to obtain a Parental Order as they do not have the status of legal parenthood until a Parental Order is made under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. This can have implications for the immigration status and nationality of the child if born overseas.

How many 'legal' parents can a child have? The maximum number of 'legal' parents that any child can have is two. So if a lesbian couple conceive a child with a man who is going to be involved with the child, only two of the three adults will have the status of 'legal' parent. The birth mother will always be the legal parent even if the egg has been donated from another woman. Misunderstandings as to the legal status of adults in this situation has led to a lot of the case law in this context as disputes often arise when individuals realise that their role is not what they thought or, more frequently, had assumed it would be.

Do all legal parents have parental responsibility (PR) for their children automatically? Not necessarily. An unmarried father who conceived a child through natural insemination will be a legal parent but will not have PR for the child unless named on the birth certificate or until PR is acquired through a court order or a formal parental responsibility agreement with the mother.

Is commercial surrogacy legal in the UK? No, it is a criminal offence to initiate negotiations with a view to making a surrogacy arrangement or to offer or agree to negotiate the making of a surrogacy agreement for profit. However, there are organisations that do so for altruistic reasons on a not for profit basis that are legal

Are surrogacy arrangements enforceable? No. It is not possible to force a surrogate to hand over a child if she changes her mind.

What is the difference between a barrister and a solicitor? There are two branches of the legal profession, solicitors/legal executives and barristers. Using the medical analogy, a GP is equivalent to a solicitor/legal executive who will often be the first port of call for clients in an office, and a hospital consultant is the equivalent of a barrister. If the case is going to court a specialist advocate is normally instructed to deal with court hearings. This could be a solicitor but more commonly, this work is undertaken by a barrister. I first qualified as a solicitor in 1989 and transferred to the Bar in 2011 so I am dual qualified but now practice as a barrister.