Blog
Rayner my parade! The importance of specialist advice.
Jemma Brimblecombe
15 May 2018
Surrogacy and Parental Orders – how far does the interpretation of “enduring family relationship” extend?
In a case involving a Parental Order (“PO”) application earlier this year, X (A Child) [2018] EWFC 15, which involved the surrogate child of a married couple in a platonic relationship, the President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, again showed the flexibility the court is, sensibly, willing to give when making important decisions about the legal status of a child within its family.
10 April 2018
International surrogacy - the legal challenges for US nationals bringing a surrogate child to the UK
Surrogacy as a way of having a family is often talked about more openly in the US than in the UK. As a consequence, people’s knowledge and understanding of the process differ greatly. In some US States, such as California, surrogacy is a mature industry in which surrogacy arrangements are well regulated and contracts (where a surrogate agrees to carry a child for intended parents for payment) are enforceable. However, documents or agreements which purport to be a surrogacy contract are not enforceable in the UK.
2 February 2018
First cases of mitochondrial donation therapy in the UK and why the “three-parent baby” headlines are misleading
In February 2015 the UK became the first country to approve laws allowing for the creation of so called “three-parent babies”. Despite the UK being first in line to approve the legislation, there has been a three year delay before doctors have now been granted permission by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to use the procedure on two women in the UK.
21 December 2017
Surrogacy and Parental Orders - welcome news for single applicants
At the beginning of December, we received the welcome news that a remedial order, amending the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (HFEA), is being laid before Parliament. The impact of the order, when it comes into effect next year, will be to allow single parents in the UK to apply for a Parental Order for their child born through surrogacy.
17 August 2017
Parenthood and surrogacy developments in France
Unlike the “halfway house” position in the UK, all forms of surrogacy are strictly forbidden in France. A contract between a surrogate and the intended parents is void and there are criminal consequences. Any intermediary (e.g. agencies, doctors and clinics) would also be committing a criminal offence and the penalty is doubled if they are acting on a commercial basis.