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Surrogacy: Questions and Answers
Sophie Goodchild20 May 2009
Is surrogacy legal in Britain?
Yes, but only if it is “non-commercial”. The law says it is illegal to advertise for a surrogate mother or as a potential surrogate. Under the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985 all deals must be based on trust, not money, and companies are not allowed to broker agreements for profit.
What are the costs involved?
Although surrogate mothers are not paid they are allowed to receive “reasonable expenses” for time off work, travel costs, maternity clothing and food to ensure the baby is born healthy. Typically the expenses bill can reach £15,000.
How does this compare with India?
UK couples can expect to pay half these expenses for an Indian surrogate but face the cost of travel to India.
What are the risks?
Agreements are not legally enforceable and a surrogate mother has the right to refuse to hand over the baby if she changes her mind. Also, couples only gain parental rights over the child if they successfully apply for a parental order after six weeks. At this stage the surrogate relinquishes all her rights over the child. An additional complication with foreign surrogacy is that children born in another country could effectively be stateless.
Why would they be stateless?
They are neither recognised as Indian nor as British in the eyes of a court.
Has a British couple ever had problems?
Yes. Last December, a couple whose twins were carried by a surrogate in the Ukraine won a year-long battle over paternity.
Why did they have to go to court?
They had been unable to conceive so used a donor egg which was implanted into the Ukrainian surrogate. But only the husband was recognised as the parent, not his wife.
What happened?
Home Office officials allowed the babies entry to the UK and the couple were awarded parenthood. However the case is regarded by lawyers as a cautionary tale for anyone looking to “hire a womb” abroad.
Reader views (1)
Currently going through the surrogacy process (and due in September), there are a number of additional items to consider in choosing surrogacy and a clinic.
One thing to keep in mind is that success rates are 45% or so, so multiple tries may be required.
- Peter, USA, 21/05/2009 14:17
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