UK Surrogacy Laws and UK Immigration Laws

If you are a couple making plans to raise a child through surrogacy from a mother living outside the UK, needless to say, that it is a challenging time in your lives. Planning is key. Obtaining correct and effective legal advice right from day-one is pivotal to go through a smooth process. UK Surrogacy laws are focused on ‘morality’ and ‘ethics’. If the child enters the UK from overseas then the UK surrogacy laws precede those of the originating country. Therefore overseas surrogacy arrangements must fall within the ambit of the UK surrogacy laws. Essential elements to remember - - The couple who are entering into a surrogacy arrangement is called ‘the commissioning couple’. They have to be married.

- The surrogate mother is the woman who will be bearing the child.

- The commissioning couple’s wife should establish that there is a reason why she cannot bear a child

– medical or otherwise.

- Surrogacy mother and the commissioning couple must enter into a private understanding between themselves for the surrogacy arrangements with the child’s welfare as the paramount factor.

- There should be no monetary value in that arrangement except for reasonable incidental expenses. There cannot be commercial motives in the arrangement.

- The surrogacy mother and the commissioning couple may enter into an arrangement but not a contract. The surrogate mother will not be under any contractual obligations of any kind.

- UK courts will not entertain or enforce surrogate contracts/agreements even if they are recognised in overseas jurisdictions.

- The surrogate mother and the commissioning couple need to be aware of the defining criteria of a father or ‘parent’ to the child within the UK laws of surrogacy. UK Department of Health regulates and holds the responsibility of formulation and publishing laws and policies affecting surrogacy in the UK. The UK government adheres to strict restrictions on commercially oriented surrogacy arrangements.