Donor conception and co-parenting law pages
Welcome to our donor conception and co-parenting law pages, with resources and information for lesbian parents, solo mothers, married and unmarried parents through donor conception, donors and co-parents, donor conceived people and fertility professionals.
From this page you can:
Click on the links to the left for legal guidance on donor conception and co-parenting law or contact us for advice on your situation
Read our publications and news coverage about donor conception and co-parenting law
Read the UK's fertility laws which govern parenthood, and leading cases on donor conception law
Access the court forms you may need
Find other websites with useful information about donor conception and co-parenting law
Donor conception law: our news and publications
As leading fertility lawyers, we often write and comment on donor conception and co-parenting law. We are proud to be thought leaders, legal experts and champions of same sex parents and donor conceived families. (See our news coverage and publications pages for a complete list).
Stonewall Gay Dads' Guide - Stonewall publication, October 2010
The Pink List 2010 - The Independent on Sunday, 1 August 2010 (ranking Natalie Gamble as a pioneer of fertility law and one of the most influential gay people in Britain)
Going solo: fertility treatment options and the law for women starting a family on their own - Bionews commentary, March 2010
Two mums and a baby - article for Infertility Network UK magazine, October 2009
Pregnant pause: a guide for lesbians - Stonewall publication, July 2009
Same sex partners to be named on birth certificates - Radio 5 Live interview with Natalie, 31 August 2009
Embryo bill debate: do families need fathers? - The Guardian, quoting Natalie, 20 May 2008
Birth rights - article for DIVA, April 2008
Times Lawyer of the Week - The Times, 15 January 2008 (showcasing Natalie's work for Andy Bathie, the sperm donor pursued by the CSA for maintenance)
Sperm donor pays maintenance to lesbians - Daily Telegraph, quoting Natalie, 3 December 2007
Letter from Natalie Gamble on whether children need a father - The Times, 21 November 2007
John Humphrys interview with Natalie Gamble and Baroness Deech - BBC Radio 4 Today Programme, 19 November 2007 (debating the new rights for lesbian parents and whether children 'need a father')
UK donor conception laws:
UK law dictates the parenthood of children conceived artificially. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 put in place laws to protect married and unmarried parents conceiving with donor eggs or sperm, and these rules still apply in respect of children conceived before 6 April 2009. From 6 April 2009, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 updated these rules, giving new rights to lesbian parents conceiving together. Both Acts also contain detailed rules governing how information about donor conception at UK fertility clinics is stored and made accessible to donor conceived people, their parents and donors.
The law is here, or you can use the links on the left to find out how the law works.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (see sections 27-29) - parenthood for children conceived before 6 April 2009
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (see sections 33-53) - parenthood for children conceived on or after 6 April 2009
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (see section 24) - rights to information about donor conception
Donor conception law: useful court forms
If you are not automatically recognised as a parent of your child (for example, a lesbian non-birth mother of a child conceived before 6 April 2009), these are the court forms you may need to apply for parental responsibility or adoptive parenthood. There is more information in our guidance links on the left to help you find out how to use these forms.
Step parent parental responsibility agreement form
If you would like help completing these forms, or want to know more about the process involved, contact us for legal advice on your particular situation.
Other donor conception websites with useful information:
There is lots of information available on the web, and it isn't always easy to know what to rely on. The following are the websites of major UK charities and organisations which contain information about donor conception and co-parenting:
Donor Conception Network - a leading and long established UK charity committed to supporting donor conceived families, particularly with issues of openness with donor conceived children.
National Gamete Donation Trust - a charity dedicated to recruiting and supporting egg and sperm donors.
UK Donorlink - a charity which supports donor conceived people conceived before the HFEA Register was created in 1991 and helps them make contact with genetic relatives.
Stonewall - the UK's leading gay rights charity, which provides advice and support to gay and lesbian people across the UK on a range of issues, including parenting and conception, and which has lobbied successfully for equal legal treatment.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) - the UK's regulatory body for fertility treatment, which oversees licensed fertility clinics in the UK.
Fertility Friends - a large online community of fertility patients and prospective parents, where people building families share information and support via online forums.
Infertility Network UK - a leading UK charity which provides support with all aspects of fertility treatment, including donor conception.
Pride Angel - a UK limited company founded by professional scientists Erika and Karen dedicated to matching sperm donors, egg donors and co-parents worldwide.
British Infertility Counselling Association - the UK's professional association of fertility treatment counsellors.
Donor conception and co-parenting law: how can we help?
We have leading expertise in donor conception and co-parenting law, and were at the forefront of creating the new law on donor conception introduced by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. We work with lesbian parents, solo mothers, married and unmarried parents through donor conception, donors, co-parents and donor-conceived people, providing cutting edge advice and legal representation. We advise Stonewall, the Donor Conception Network, the National Gamete Donation Trust and other leading charities and organisations working in the field of donor conception and same sex parenting.
If you would like further information or advice on your particular circumstances do feel free to contact us. We can help with:
- legal advice on entering into and managing donor or co-parenting arrangements, including structuring legal parenthood and parental responsibility effectively, birth registration advice, information rights, handling fertility treatment and HFEA procedures, and managing ongoing relationships effectively,
- preparing known donor and co-parenting agreements (including multi-national agreements),
- expert legal representation (and other dispute resolution) where difficulties arise concerning donor conceived children, including leading expertise on same sex parenting and assisted reproduction scenarios (including international cases) - also see our Parenting and Children Law area,
- legal advice on tricky conception situations, including parents in complex marital situations,
- help with baby planning and weighing up the range of options available if you are considering building a family through donor conception or co-parenting,
- advising fertility clinics, charities and other professionals on the legal implications of dealing with donor conception or co-parenting arrangements,
- drafting specialist Wills to protect families created through donor conception or co-parenting.
