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UK's Senior Managers And Certification Regime - All Change On 9 December?
Adrian Crawford
Recent media coverage of the Baby Gammy surrogacy case in Thailand has, once again, put commercial surrogacy at the forefront of public debate. In relation to that, I have seen countless articles and listened to radio programmes highlighting the pitfalls of surrogacy and the law in the UK. Many of the reports on the law here have been incorrect; it is a widely stated myth that payments to a surrogate are illegal in the UK, which isn’t true.
In fact, the relevant legislation does not prohibit payments from intended parents to a surrogate in the UK, but a third party (e.g. an agency) cannot profit from such an arrangement. In addition, when intended parents come to apply for a Parental Order in the UK (to obtain legal parental status of the surrogate child), they will need to ask the court to authorise any payments made to a surrogate. So, while the level of payments made will be under scrutiny, it is not illegal to pay a surrogate.
Are surrogate children protected by international rules?
Currently, there is no international regulation of surrogacy, nor international convention dealing with the legal issues involved, leaving children (like Baby Gammy) born of surrogacy arrangements without proper protection or security. Intended parents, surrogates and surrogate children have to rely on local surrogacy laws – if there are any - which vary from country to country. As was seen in the Baby Gammy case, there is frequently confusion over what local law actually says in relation to surrogacy.
Some countries have a very liberal approach whilst others don’t recognise children who are born via a surrogacy arrangement, often leaving children stateless.
How can we tighten the rules?
UK and international surrogacy lawyers are calling for worldwide regulation of the surrogacy industry and an international convention to ensure protection of children born of these arrangements. The Hague conference is working on the issues arising from international surrogacy arrangements but an international convention is likely to be many years off.
The complexities of cross-border surrogacy arise because of the potential number of interested legal systems: where the surrogate lives; where the intended parents live and their citizenship; the country where the birth is taking place and where the surrogacy agreement is entered into.
As a starting point, we urgently need an international code of practice and regulated surrogacy clinics.
Lessons we can learn from the Baby Gammy case
The legal and ethical issues surrounding surrogacy are complex but Governments need to face up to the fact that intended parents are still going ahead, despite the risks, leaving children without proper protection.
Further information
For further information on international surrogacy law, please services and FAQ pages on this subject and feel free to contact a member of our team.
You may also be interested to read our previous blogs and articles about the complexities and developments in international surrogacy:
We welcome views and opinions about the issues raised in this blog. Should you require specific advice in relation to personal circumstances, please use the form on the contact page.
Adrian Crawford
Maeve Keenan
Colleen Nwaodor (Français)
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