Legislation of GB

Surrogacy is absolutely legal in the UK but it is restricted by various legal rules. No advertisement concerning looking for a surrogate or willing to act as a surrogate is acceptable as it is a criminal offence. It is also an offence to broker a surrogacy arrangement on a commercial basis.

It is impossible to enter into a legally-binding surrogacy agreement in the UK as surrogacy agreements are unenforceable in UK courts. The family courts usually tend to approve parental rights of intended parents applying to enforce a surrogacy arrangement, but they have to act in the best interests of the child which means there are no guarantees.

Under English law, the legal mother of a child born through surrogacy is always, at birth, the surrogate mother. In surrogacy cases it means that the intended mother has no recognition as a parent until she applies a parental order. If surrogate is unmarried, biological father is recognized as a legal father of a child. If the intended parents are a gay couple, fatherhood will go to the partner who is the biological father.

There are some legal requirements to Intended parents. First of all, both of them are to be of full age, one or both must be a biological parent of the child, one or both must be domiciled in a part of the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man, must be married to each other at the time of the application. From 6 April 2010, unmarried and same sex couples will also be able to apply.

One more important condition, prescribed by the law is that no more than reasonable expenses must have been paid, unless authorized by the court. What constitutes reasonable expenses depends on the facts of each particular case.

The main law, regulating surrogacy is Surrogacy Arrangement Act 1985.

See http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1985/cukpga_19850049_en_1

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