To apply for a parenting order and transfer legal parenting, at least one of the NPs or NPs must be genetically related to the baby in the case of an individual applicant. Unfortunately, however, there are cases where the intended parents and surrogate are mistreated, which raises serious concerns for all parties involved, including the child. For couples pursuing surrogacy overseas, they must apply for citizenship (if the surrogate is married) and travel documents for the baby before returning to the UK. The process of applying for entry into the UK (or a UK passport) involves the Home Office/Her Majesty`s Passport Office, and it often takes several months for verification, during which the baby will not be able to travel or enter the UK overseas. If the surrogate mother is married or in a registered partnership, her spouse or partner is the child`s second parent at birth, unless he or she has not given permission. The English process for determining intended parents as the child`s sole parents is a “parental order”. A parental decree fully and definitively establishes parental rights and leads to the issuance of the child`s birth certificate with the intended parents as sole parents. It also eliminates the legal status and responsibilities of the surrogate under English law. In Re TT (2011), a traditional single surrogate became pregnant after an internet match and insemination at home. The parties argued during pregnancy and the surrogate did not hand over the child at birth. The intended parents (the biological father and his wife) applied for a residence permit (now known as a child`s ordinance). The court criticized all parties (none of whom had told the truth), but ruled that it was in the best interests of the child to stay with the surrogate. It is a common misconception that it is illegal for parents to pay a British surrogate mother more than her reasonable costs.
In fact, there is no crime in UK law that limits payments to surrogates. The issue is only a consideration for the family court, which must approve the payment of more than reasonable fees before it can make a parenting order transferring parenthood to the intended parent(s). An agreement between IP(s) and a surrogate (and her spouse or partner, if she has one) is not a legally binding document, but a statement of intent about how the agreement will work and the commitment each party makes to the other before starting surrogacy. Major surrogacy organizations agree that having a written agreement is fundamental to ensuring effective communication and mutual understanding between the NP(s) and the surrogate. If all the legal criteria are met, the court`s primary consideration in making the parental order is the best interests of the child throughout his or her life. UK laws may seem outdated given medical advances, especially compared to similar laws in more “surrogacy-friendly” countries. For example, UK laws do not support commercial surrogacy contracts. As a result, the surrogate is the legal mother at the birth of the baby and she is not obliged to give you the child. A parenting order can be issued to change this status, but only with their cooperation. Without her cooperation, she remains the legal parent and you have no legal or parental rights over the child unless she is single, so in most cases, the male IP is the legal father. However, the mother`s legal status is never changed without a parenting order. A birth plan is an important tool in any pregnancy.
Here, parents record their wishes as to how they would like to be treated during pregnancy and childbirth so that health workers can track this if possible. A surrogate and NP(s) joint birth plan is therefore a great place to reflect on the main points agreed upon in the “surrogacy agreement” and to record how you want the pregnancy until the birth together. Altruistic surrogacy in the UK is legal and regulated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (HFEA) and the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985, which cover the rights of parents and surrogates and outline the process of establishing permanent parental rights. For example, it is illegal to pay a surrogate more than a reasonable fee for the surrogacy arrangement. It is a criminal offence to announce that you are looking for a surrogate or that you are willing to act as a surrogate. The restrictions make surrogacy legal in the UK, but also quite difficult to manage. The law of Scotland, England and Wales has been the subject of various developments concerning surrogacy; In fact, the three regions are currently making changes in this area of legislation by revising legislation. However, the current changes, which are about to be implemented, are the result of numerous campaigns and pressures from various interest groups, both political and non-political. More than 3 decades ago, the Surrogacy Arrangements Act was introduced and enacted in 1985. The surrogacy laws currently in force in the three regions described are largely regulated and regulated by this specific legislation. The problem is that in thirty-six years, the way society perceives and perceives this rather controversial practice has changed considerably (and with it the applicable technology). For many couples living in the Western world, surrogacy has become a very common way to start a family.
According to data collected by the National Health Service (NHS), 1 in 7 couples living in the UK struggle to get pregnant in the traditional way (NHS, n.d.). Despite these statistics, surrogacy laws make the process very slow and less streamlined for people in the UK, compared to Canadian and US laws governing surrogacy, which are much more efficient and up-to-date. The contents of this note should not be considered as legal advice and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis. Another problem arises when we look at the process of a parenting order more thoroughly. This process cannot begin without the consent of the surrogate. Even if the surrogate gives consent immediately after the birth of the child, the consent becomes invalid because, in the eyes of the law, the surrogate mother can only give valid consent after at least six weeks after the birth. All this can be considered an infringement of the rights of the intended parents, the surrogate mother, as well as the surrogate child. The delay in transferring parenthood means that the surrogate must take care of the child and all of its expenses until the parenting order is made, even if she doesn`t want to.