Surrogacy gives the opportunity for many people to start a family – but the process can be long and, frankly, quite confusing.
Here’s all you need to know about becoming a parent via a surrogate under the current system in the UK – including how the law may be changing.
What is surrogacy?
Surrogacy is where a woman bears a child on behalf of someone else or a couple, who intends to become the child’s parents (known as the ‘intended parents’). The process is legal in the UK, and is recognised by the government.
There are two types of surrogacy: gestational host surrogacy – where an embryo made by the intended parent(s) is transferred via IVF into the surrogate – and traditional surrogacy – which uses the surrogates own eggs to conceive and donor sperm, via artificial insemination.
What happens during the process?
There are a number of ways you can find a surrogate. Surrogacy UK runs social events for intended parents to meet surrogates, and there are also online messaging forums, or you can scroll through profiles online.
Once you have found a surrogate, you enter into a “getting to know” stage, which usually lasts around three months. This involves face-to-face meetings and phone calls.
The final stage – called the “agreement” – is where you have a session with your surrogate and a mediator and talk through every eventuality to ensure everyone is in agreement with how the process works.
How much does surrogacy cost?
The law states you cannot pay a surrogate in the UK, except for “reasonable expenses” – so it can be difficult to estimate how much it costs overall.
Charity Brilliant Beginnings suggests there is “no set figure”, but “it does often seem in practice that £12,000 to £15,000 is the going rate for UK surrogacy arrangements”.
When do the intended parents become a child’s ‘legal parents’?
Under the present system, couples or single parents who have a child via a surrogate have to apply to the courts to legally become the child’s parents after the baby has been born – called a “parental order” – and this can take several months.
The Law Commission says this process doesn’t reflect the reality of a child’s family life – and may also affect the intended parents’ ability to make decisions about the child in their care.
Could the law change?
Yes – surrogacy laws in the UK could be about to change to give people ‘legal parent status’ as soon as a baby is born. The Law Commission has suggested a new “surrogacy pathway”, which would see this waiting time drastically reduced. The pathway would also create a new national register to give a surrogate child information about their origins.
Current laws around surrogacy haven’t changed since the 1980s. The Law Commission says change is needed to put the child at the heart of the process. It also says it wants to provide “comfort and confidence” to both the surrogate and the intended parents.
The Law Commission’s consultation began on 6 June 2019 and will run until 27 September 2019.
Are the intended parents or the surrogate given any support?
The new process would require safeguards – including counselling and independent legal advice – for those entering into the surrogacy arrangement to reduce the risk of it breaking down.
How can I find out more?
You can read the full consultation of the potential law change here. For a summary of the full document, see here.
For more about surrogacy in general, visit here.