Surrogacy and fertility law
Our surrogacy and fertility law experts provide specialist advice from surrogacy arrangements to posthumous use of embryos, and adoption to pre-conception agreements.
Starting a family is one of the biggest decisions you'll ever make. With scientific advances changing the way we think about forming families, the legal processes and implications can be daunting and complex. That's where our team of surrogacy and fertility law experts come in.
What do you need to know?
When it comes to starting a family through assisted reproduction, there are some important legal considerations to keep in mind. For most parents, legal parentage is a given, but for those using donor conception, co-parenting or surrogacy, the law has specific rules about who is considered a legal parent. Getting legal parentage right is often the top priority for intended parents.
Legal parentage has a significant impact on a range of issues, including nationality, inheritance, parental responsibility, child arrangements, and financial responsibility for a child.
The law is complex and relies on strict criteria being met to ensure legal parentage is conferred. Sometimes, even if you intend for someone to be a legal parent, the law may not recognise them as such and may instead recognise donors or surrogates as legal parents.
There are also many other issues to be aware of, depending on your circumstances, such as relationships breaking down during fertility treatment or surrogacy, donation of eggs and sperm, anonymity of donors, the use of stored embryos after divorce or separation, and posthumous conception.
Our services
Our surrogacy and fertility lawyers advise on:
- Surrogacy arrangements
- Assisted reproduction
- Fertility treatment
- Donor conception
- Co-parenting
- Adoption
Why choose us?
Our team of surrogacy and fertility lawyers have a wealth of practical experience and aren't afraid to push boundaries to find creative solutions to novel problems. We help a wide variety of clients, including individuals who have used assisted reproduction or fertility treatments, intended parents, surrogates, sperm and egg donors, co-parents, step-parents, and fertility clinics.
Recent experience
- Advised intended parents on a parental order following an international surrogacy arrangement
- Advised a co-parent on fertility treatment
- Advised a parent on a declaration of parentage following IVF treatment
- Represented a surrogate mother in a case where the relationship between the intended parents had broken down
- Acted for a leading fertility clinic in several reported cases involving declarations of parentage
- Mills & Reeve deliver exceptional client service. They have a depth of knowledge which is invaluable for clientsLegal 500
- Mills & Reeve has an ability to think clearly and provide simple, no-nonsense solutions to complex casesChambers 2024
Ready to talk to us?
Contact our fertility and surrogacy lawyers to learn more about our services and how we can help you navigate the complex legal processes and implications of starting a family.
Resources
Explaining family law podcast
Facing a family law issue and not sure what's involved? Our podcast is the right place to start.
Family and children blog
Our family and children law blog provides practical advice and insight on a wide range of topics by our family and children lawyers.
Family law vlogger YouTube
On our YouTube channel, Caitlin Jenkins, the Family Law Vlogger gives you guidance on your first step in sorting out your issues.
Surrogacy and fertility law FAQs
There are two types of surrogacy: gestational and traditional. In gestational surrogacy, the surrogate carries an embryo created using a third-party egg donor or the intended mother's egg. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate's own egg is used.
No, it's not illegal to pay a surrogate more than expenses, nor is it illegal for a surrogate to receive more than reimbursement of reasonable expenses. However, the law around payments in UK surrogacy is complex.
There are several reasons why people go overseas for surrogacy, including a shortage of surrogates in the UK and a perception of certainty in terms of parentage and enforceability of surrogacy arrangements.
Under UK law, surrogacy agreements are not enforceable by either party. At birth, the surrogate is the legal mother and the second legal parent will depend on her marital status. A parental order can only be obtained if the surrogate and any other legal parent consent to the making of the parental order.
Yes. Even if you are recognised as the parents in the country of birth, a parental order will usually be required in England to establish legal parentage.
A parental order extinguishes the legal parentage of the surrogate and any other legal parent and vests legal parentage in the intended parent or parents for all purposes under UK law.
The law in the UK relating to surrogacy is outdated and in need of reform. The Law Commission published a joint report in March 2023 setting out their detailed proposals for law reform, but it remains to be seen whether these proposals will be enacted into law.
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