Surrogacy and legal parenthood – changes from 1 October 2013

On 1 October 2013, we will be changing our guidance and consent forms on legal parenthood for intended parents involved in surrogacy arrangements.

On this page:

What is changing?

As of 1 October 2013, it will be possible for one of the intended parents commissioning a surrogacy arrangement to be recognised as the legal parent when the child is born, if the surrogate is not married or in a civil partnership and the relevant consents are in place.

What is the reason for this change?

The Code of Practice currently states that the intended parents providing gametes in surrogacy arrangements must be registered as donors; that they will not be the parents upon birth of the child and that parenthood will need to be obtained by parental order or adoption.

However, in the light of new legal advice and consideration of how best to protect all those involved in a surrogacy arrangement, the Authority decided to change its guidance to make it possible for one of the intended parents to become the second parent upon birth of the child, prior to granting a Parental Order.

What are the key points?

  • The surrogate (the woman who gives birth to the child) remains the legal mother upon birth.
  • Where the surrogate is married or in a civil partnership, the surrogate’s partner will be the second legal parent - unless they can provide appropriate evidence to demonstrate a factual basis for the partner not consenting (eg, that they are separated).
  • Where the surrogate is single (or where their partner did not consent to treatment), one of the intended parents can be the second legal parent of the child when born.
  • There are different routes to legal parenthood:
    • the intended biological father will automatically be recognised as the legal parent under common law; or
    • one of the intended parents can be nominated as the second legal parent, (if certain conditions and the relevant consents are in place).
  • These changes do not affect the Parental Order process which transfers parenthood from the surrogate to both the intended parents commissioning the surrogacy arrangement.

How will the changes affect clinics?

The two main changes affecting clinic practice will be registration form submission and parenthood consent.

Register form submission

The main change in terms of register form submission is that of ensuring that intended parents who are supplying gametes are registered with the IP prefix to their donor code. Pages 3 and 4 of the donor form are not required by the HFEA. We have produced a complete guide on registration form completion for differing surrogacy scenarios.

Parenthood consent

We have developed new parenthood consent forms to reflect the different routes to legal parenthood in surrogacy. Please note that the relevant consent forms must be completed, prior to sperm, egg or embryo transfer. We have produced an information guide on legal parenthood consents and surrogacy to assist you.

Patient FAQs

We have produced a set of frequently asked questions on surrogacy and legal parenthood.

The guidance and consent forms were developed in consultation with clinic staff (at a workshop in April 2013), the Senior Infertility Nurses Group (SING) and external/family lawyers.    



Page last updated: 02 August 2013