Blog
Supporting You In Dealing With Trauma Why Trauma-Informed Lawyering is Crucial
Eurydice Cote
Surrogacy has been in the news again recently, with Olympic diver Tom Daley and his husband Dustin Lance Black welcoming their son, Robert Ray, who was born earlier this year following a surrogacy arrangement in the US. This is not quite the end of Tom’s and Dustin’s long journey to become parents as they will now have to take steps in England to formally recognise them as Robert’s fathers.
The family, who will have a base in London, will need to apply for a Parental Order within 6 months of Robert’s birth. The Parental Order will mark the final stage in what is often a long and sometimes challenging path for intended parents. The Order is required to extinguish the parental responsibility and legal parentage of the surrogate and her husband (if she has one) and recognise the intended parents as legal parents.
Although our law has further to go to get entirely up to speed with advancements in science and social and societal progress, it is easy to forget how the law has come on leaps and bounds in the last 10 years. Until the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (“HFEA 2008”), Parental Orders were only available to heterosexual, married couples. The HFEA 2008 opened up the availability of Parental Orders to same sex couples, namely those in civil partnerships and also to couples of any gender in a long-term and enduring relationship. This important development broadened the availability of surrogacy and, importantly, the ability to formalise that arrangement by way of a Parental Order to a whole host of intended parents wishing to build their family in that way.
The court is concerned with two main issues on considering whether to make a Parental Order, namely, whether the statutory criteria under section 54 HFEA 2008 are met and whether the making of a Parental Order in favour of the intended parents is in the child’s best interests. The Parental Order process in this country is the same for all intended parent applicants and, rightly so, the court makes no allowances or places no further hurdles for intended parents who are in same sex marriages, long-term enduring relationships, civil partnerships or heterosexual marriages.
Although the law no longer distinguishes between same sex and mixed sex couples when considering parental order applications, there are some practical differences which arise.
It is hoped that conversations about parentage (such as the above) will become easier as more guidance becomes available and the existence (along with our awareness and appreciation) of alternative family structures deepens and becomes ever more commonplace.
Olivia Stiles is an Associate and Connie Atkinson is a Senior Associate in Kingsley Napley’s Family team. They both have experience of working with LGBTQ couples going through the surrogacy and Parental Order process. For more advice, please contact us here.
Kingsley Napley are publishing a series of blogs to celebrate Pride and to raise awareness about the issues facing LGBTQ people in our communities. You can view our other blogs here.
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.
Eurydice Cote
Richard Fox
Marcia Longdon
Skip to content Home About Us Insights Services Contact Accessibility
Share insightLinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email to a friend Print