All Party Group on Surrogacy publishes report on Surrogacy Law reform
26th January 2021
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Surrogacy has this week published its report on Surrogacy Law reform, adding its voice to the calls for wholesale reform of UK Surrogacy Law, which is presently the subject of a joint project of the Scottish Law Commission and the Law Commission of England and Wales.
The report is the result of evidence sessions (in which Robert Gilmour was a participant) seeking the views of a wide range of interested parties.
Among the key observations and recommendations of the Group are:-
- The importance of “at birth” legal parenthood for intended parents. At present the UK system requires applications to be made to court after a child’s birth for an order recognising legal parenthood of the intended parents.
- The need for the creation of “legitimate and robust” surrogacy agreements. Current UK law offers no recognition and protection to surrogacy agreements and prohibits professionals such as lawyers charging a fee for advice in relation to the creation of an agreement.
- The desirability of “a more stable system in the UK which removes the push factors for seeking surrogacy overseas”. Many intended parents in the UK find themselves having to look overseas when considering surrogacy because of the perceived inadequacies in the UK legal system and the relative lack of UK surrogates, which is also in part a symptom of the current UK regime, including, for example, the prohibition on advertising for a surrogate.
The full report can be found here.
If you are interested in discussing this further, please contact Robert for more information.