Surrogacy law
Welcome to our surrogacy law pages - free information and resources from the UK's leading surrogacy lawyers
Surrogacy information and guidance
Considering surrogacy and want to know more? See our information pages for Mum-Dad couples, gay dads and single parents
A professional dealing with surrogacy issues? See our information pages for foreign professionals and UK social workers and hospitals
Fired up about the need for change? Find out why we think surrogacy law needs reforming, learn about our surrogacy campaigning work and follow us on Twitter
Prefer to browse by subject? See our pages on international surrogacy, UK surrogacy, parenthood after surrogacy, parental orders, wills and surrogacy disputes
How we can help you
We have helped hundreds of families created through surrogacy over many years, influenced law and policy in Parliament, and acted in virtually all the leading cases which have made UK law on surrogacy (including the very first UK court ratification of an international surrogacy arrangement Re X and Y (2008), and subsequent leading decisions Re L (2010), Re IJ (2011), Re D and L (2012) and Re A and B (2013)). Find out more about our surrogacy law services or read more about our cases and campaigning work in the news:
Judge awards parenthood to gay dads after Indian surrogate 'disappears' - our blog, and the Telegraph and Daily Mail, October 2012
Should surrogacy law be reformed? (listen to Natalie on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour, 3 June 2011)
After the birth of Elton and David's son, can the UK deliver surrogacy reform? (Natalie Gamble writing for the Guardian, 29 December 2010)
British surrogacy ruling saves baby twins from Ukraine orphanage (The Times, 12 December 2008)
See our News Coverage page for more
Surrogacy resources to help you
Court forms for parental order applications
Here are the court forms you need if you are representing yourselves in a parental order application
Parental order application form (C51)
Parental order acknowledgement form (C52)
The law itself
You can read UK surrogacy law here. There are two pieces of legislation:
the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985, which restricts the arrangement of surrogacy in the UK
the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (sections 22-55), which deals with parenthood and parental orders
Leading court decisions on surrogacy
The family courts implement the law and assign parenthood after surogacy, as well as dealing with disputes. When new issues are considered, decisions are sometimes published to create the groundrules for subsequent cases. You can read the UK's leading court decisions on surrogacy here
Links to other organisations
Surrogacy UK and COTS - the UK's two main non-profit making surrogacy agencies, providing support for surrogacy arrangements and helping surrogates and intended parents to make contact with each other
Fertility Friends - an online community of fertility patients for sharing information and support using online forums
Infertility Network UK - a leading UK charity, which provides support with all aspects of fertility treatment, including surrogacy
HFEA - the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the UK's regulatory body for fertility treatment
British Infertility Counselling Association - the UK's professional association of fertility clinic counsellors
