Surrogacy Laws UK: Parental Orders and Fertility Advice

Part of: Surrogacy Agreements

Under UK surrogacy laws the woman who gives birth is your baby’s legal mother, and a surrogacy agreement is not an enforceable contract. Intended parents become legal parents through a parental order from the family court after the birth, and the standard deadline to apply is the period of six months beginning with the day the child is born (Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, s.54). This page explains how that works, what the court checks, and where we can help.

This page provides general legal information about surrogacy laws and fertility law in England and Wales. It is not a substitute for advice on your own circumstances. We do not arrange, broker or negotiate surrogacy arrangements, and we do not introduce intended parents to surrogates. Our surrogacy laws and fertility law specialists give advice and help on agreements, parental orders and disputes.

Reviewed by: Iblal Iqbal, Partner & Family Law Strategist, Kabir Family Law

Most people reading this have waited a long time for this baby and have just been told that the law does not yet see them as its parents. That is unsettling, and it is also normal: it is how the process is built, and there is a clear route through it. Are you starting a surrogacy journey, going through fertility treatment as a couple or a single parent, or facing a dispute about parenthood, consent or a parental order? Our surrogacy laws and fertility law specialists provide clear advice and help at every stage, as part of our wider child custody and children law service. We can help from before conception right through to the final hearing.

How does surrogacy work in the UK?

Surrogacy works in the UK when a woman, the surrogate, carries a baby for intended parents, who become its legal parents only once the family court makes a parental order after the birth. There are two types of arrangement (GOV.UK surrogacy pathway):

• Straight (traditional) surrogacy. The surrogate uses her own egg, so she is the child’s genetic mother. Conception is by insemination with the intended father’s sperm, at a clinic or at home.
• Host (gestational) surrogacy. A clinic creates an embryo by IVF, using the intended parents’ egg and sperm or one of them with a donor, and transfers it to the surrogate. She has no genetic link to the baby.

Whichever type you use, the same surrogacy laws apply. Nobody may negotiate or arrange surrogacy on a commercial basis in the UK, although the surrogate and the intended parents do not commit that offence themselves (Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985, s.2). Your agreement cannot be enforced by either side (s.1A). Payments to the surrogate should cover only her reasonable expenses, unless the court later authorises more. At the birth, she is the legal mother, even in host surrogacy (HFEA 2008, s.33). You become the legal parents through a parental order, which needs at least one of you to be genetically related to the child. Your application must reach the court within six months beginning with the day your baby is born (s.54). The sections below take each of those steps in turn.

How can our surrogacy and fertility law specialists help?

We advise on a wide range of surrogacy and fertility matters, including:

• Parental order applications under section 54 or section 54A, covering eligibility, timing and preparing for the family court process.
• Surrogacy agreement advice, including reviewing or helping you draft a written record of intentions and an expenses schedule, and explaining what an agreement can and cannot do.
• International and cross-border surrogacy, where the country of birth, UK legal parenthood, nationality and the route the child needs into the UK all have to fit together.
• Disputes over consent, parenthood or contact arising from a surrogacy arrangement, including cases where the surrogate or her spouse has not given the consent a parental order needs.
• Fertility law advice for same-sex couples and single parents, including legal parenthood after treatment with a known or clinic donor.
• Known donor and co-parenting arrangements, including parental responsibility and the legal position of a donor who wants a role in a child’s life.
• Adoption advice where a parental order is not available, for example where no intended parent has the genetic link a parental order requires.

Why instruct Kabir Family Law for surrogacy and fertility advice?

Surrogacy and fertility cases sit where family law meets nationality and immigration law. You want a family law specialist who already knows how parental order applications run, not a generalist working it out as they go.

• Matched to the right specialist. We match you with the family law specialist whose experience fits your situation, rather than whoever is free.
• No billing targets. Our specialists do not work to billing targets, so the advice you get is about your case and not about the clock.
• Costs agreed upfront. We explain what the work will cost before it starts, so there is no surprise at the end.
• A free initial consultation. One of our specialists gives you initial advice on your own circumstances before you commit to anything.

Is a surrogacy agreement binding, and who is the legal parent?

No, it is not binding. A surrogacy agreement is a record of shared intentions, not an enforceable contract. It cannot force a surrogate to continue a pregnancy, hand over a child, or consent to a parental order. What it can do is record what everyone expects about treatment, expenses and contact, and give the court a clear expenses record when the application reaches it. For the full detail of what to include, see our guide to surrogacy agreements.

Who is the legal parent at birth?

The woman who gives birth, the surrogate, is the legal mother at birth. That is true even when she has no genetic link to the child. If she is married or in a civil partnership at the time, her spouse or civil partner will normally be the other legal parent, depending on the facts and the consents given at the clinic. Under UK surrogacy laws, intended parents do not become legal parents automatically, however strong the genetic link and however clear the agreement.

Where a child is conceived with donor sperm rather than through a surrogate, who counts as the legal father turns on the route used. Our guide to sperm donors and the law sets out the clinic and private-donor positions in full.

How does a parental order transfer legal parenthood?

A parental order is the main legal route for intended parents to become the child’s legal parents. The family court makes it after the birth, under section 54 for couples or section 54A for a single applicant. At least one applicant must have a genetic link to the child. Applying as a couple, you must be married, in a civil partnership, or living as partners in an enduring family relationship and not within the prohibited degrees of relationship (s.54(2)) — an unmarried couple qualifies, two relatives do not. The child must be living with you, and at least one of you must be domiciled in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man (s.54(4)). Each of you must be 18 or over (s.54(5)). The surrogate, and any other legal parent, must give free and unconditional consent, and her agreement does not count until six weeks after the birth (s.54(7)).

The standard deadline is to apply within six months beginning with the child’s birth (s.54(3)). Courts have accepted late applications where the delay could be explained and the child’s welfare pointed that way, following Re X (A Child) [2014] EWHC 3135 (Fam), but that is an argument you have to make out, not a right. Get advice urgently rather than assuming the application can simply wait. Where no intended parent has the genetic link a parental order needs, adoption will normally be the route instead, and our page on adoption orders explains how that works.

If those two dates are already running, this is the point to talk to someone. Whether your consent position, your domicile and your expenses record actually meet section 54 is a judgement on your own facts, and it is far cheaper to check now than to be told at a first hearing.

Book a free initial consultation

How does a parental order application work, step by step?

1. Before conceptionTake advice on UK surrogacy law and agree how expenses will work. Keep receipts from day one, because the court will look at what you paid and why.
2. The birthThe surrogate is the legal mother. You will need the child’s full birth certificate to apply, so order it early rather than in month five.
3. Six weeks after the birthThe surrogate’s agreement only counts from this point. She, and any other legal parent, agree to the order on form A101A (GOV.UK).
4. Before six monthsYou send form C51 to a family court. The court fee is £270 (GOV.UK; the family court fee list EX50 was last updated on 13 July 2026). Court fees do change, so check the figure again on the day you send it.
5. The court sets the timetableIt appoints a parental order reporter from Cafcass, or a Welsh family proceedings officer, and usually lists a first hearing to plan the case (FPR Part 13).
6. The final hearingThe judge works through each condition in the Act, considers the reporter’s findings, and decides whether to make the order.

How much does surrogacy cost in the UK?

Surrogacy in the UK has no set price, because you cannot pay a surrogate a fee, only her reasonable expenses (GOV.UK). How much surrogacy costs then depends on where your baby is born and whether you use a fertility clinic. Expect some or all of these:

• The surrogate’s expenses, the part the court looks at hardest, as the paragraphs below explain.
• Fertility treatment, if you use a clinic, which bills you directly.
• The court fee for the C51 parental order application, which is £270 (GOV.UK).
• Legal advice on your agreement and the parental order, with costs agreed with you upfront.
• Costs abroad if your baby is born overseas: the clinic or agency charges there, plus the foreign paperwork the court will expect to see.

There is no lawful fee for carrying a child in the UK and no published scale of payments, so the honest answer to how much surrogates get paid is that a surrogate is reimbursed rather than paid: her reasonable expenses, evidenced item by item. Section 1A of the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985 makes a surrogacy arrangement unenforceable by or against any of the people who made it, so no figure written into an agreement can be enforced by either side.

The number matters most at the parental order hearing. Under section 54(8) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, and the equivalent condition for a single applicant under section 54A, the court must be satisfied that no money or other benefit beyond expenses reasonably incurred was given or received, unless the court authorises it. Courts can and do authorise payments that went further, because by the time the application reaches them the child’s welfare throughout their life is the court’s paramount consideration (Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Parental Orders) Regulations 2018, applying section 1 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002). But that authorisation is a decision the judge makes on the evidence, not a formality, and the evidence is your expenses record.

So the figure to worry about is not the headline total. It is whether each item is a genuine, reasonably incurred expense and whether you can show it. Loss of earnings, maternity clothing, travel to appointments, childcare during appointments and additional insurance are the sorts of items that are routinely explained and accepted; a single round-sum transfer with no breakdown behind it is the thing that stalls hearings. The categories and how to set them out in a schedule are covered in our guide to surrogacy agreements.

Getting this wrong is expensive in time rather than money. A weak expenses record does not usually end an application, but it turns a short hearing into a directions hearing, a witness statement and a second listing, often months later, while your legal status as the child’s parent stays unresolved. Paid-for brokering of a surrogacy arrangement on a commercial basis is separately restricted under section 2 of the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985. We advise on the legal position; we do not arrange or broker the surrogacy itself.

You may have read that the law here is changing. For now it is not. The Law Commission’s 2023 report Building families through surrogacy: a new law proposed a new pathway and a defined list of permitted payments, built on the principle that a surrogate should end up neither better nor worse off. In April 2025 the Government confirmed that it is unable to prioritise surrogacy reform and does not intend to take those recommendations forward at this time (Law Commission). Plan around the law as it stands on this page, not around the reform you may have seen reported.

Born in the UK or born abroad: what changes?

The parental order conditions are the same wherever your baby was born. What changes is how much has to happen before you can even get to court, and how much evidence the court expects to see.

Surrogacy abroad: what to plan for

If your baby was or will be born overseas, our detailed guide to international surrogacy and bringing your child to the UK is the page to read next: it covers nationality, the travel route and the practical sequence in full. The short version is that the court still applies the same conditions wherever the birth took place. At least one of you must be domiciled in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, and the child must be living with you (s.54(4)). Domicile is not the same as where you happen to live, so an intended parent living abroad is not automatically shut out of the English route.

If your case also involves relocation, jurisdiction disputes or overseas assets, our international family law specialists can advise alongside.

Fertility law: where consent decides parenthood

Surrogacy is one part of fertility law. Legal parenthood questions also arise from fertility treatment itself, where a child is conceived using a clinic, a known donor, or treatment for a same-sex couple or a single parent. The answer often turns on the consent forms signed at the clinic and on the relationship status of those involved at the time, rather than on anyone’s intentions. An unmarried second parent’s status, for example, depends on the consent notices given to the clinic before treatment (s.37 and s.44). A form that was never signed, or was signed after treatment, is one of the most common reasons a parent finds out years later that they have no legal status at all. We advise on:

• Consent disputes linked to fertility treatment, including stored embryos.
• Fertility law advice for same-sex couples and single parents planning a family, alongside our guide to same-sex parents’ rights.
• Co-parenting agreements between a donor and intended parents, and their legal limits.

If you are planning treatment and want to know where you will stand, speak to our team early. Almost all of these issues are far easier to settle with advice before treatment than after a dispute has started.

Where does your parental order application stand right now?

Choose where your baby was born and where you are in the timeline, then tick what is already true. The list shows you what the court will be looking for in your situation and where the gaps are. It does not fill anything in for you, and nothing you tick leaves this page.

What does the free initial consultation cover?

A free initial consultation is a call with one of our specialists, who gives you initial advice tailored to your circumstances. It does not include drafting or reviewing documents. It helps to have these to hand:

• Your baby’s date of birth, or the due date.
• Where your baby was born, or will be born.
• Who has signed any consent forms, and when.
• A rough list of what you have paid so far.

Most of all, it helps to call early, while there is still time before the deadline.

Frequently asked questions

Expert Tip

A common mistake is to think the surrogate can sign her consent in hospital to save time. She cannot. Agreement given in the first six weeks does not count, and the application must still reach the court within six months of the birth. It is an easy slip to make when you are tired and busy with a new baby. Put both dates in your diary on the day your baby is born, and start the expenses schedule that same week rather than reconstructing it from bank statements later.

Written by Garry Steedman, Family Law Consultant (Divorce, Children & TOLATA). Reviewed by Iblal Iqbal, Partner & Family Law Strategist, Kabir Family Law.