Surrogacy can be one of the most meaningful ways to build a family, but it can also involve complex legal issues that need to be carefully considered from the start.

At southgate solicitors, we provide specialist family law advice to intended parents and surrogates who need guidance before, during or after a surrogacy arrangement taking place. Whether you are considering surrogacy in the UK or overseas, applying for a parental order, or simply want to understand your legal position, our team can help you take the right steps with confidence.

We understand that surrogacy is deeply personal. It involves trust, planning and clear communication between everyone involved. Our role is to provide calm, practical and sensitive legal advice so that you understand your rights, responsibilities and options at every stage.

What is surrogacy?

Surrogacy is an arrangement where a woman carries and gives birth to a child for another person or couple, known as the intended parent or intended parents.

There are generally two types of surrogacy:

Traditional surrogacy

This is where the surrogate uses her own egg and is therefore biologically related to the child.

Gestational surrogacy

This is where the surrogate carries a child created using the egg and sperm of the intended parents or donors. In this situation, the surrogate is not biologically related to the child.

Surrogacy arrangements can be made in the UK or abroad, but the legal position can be very different depending on where the arrangement takes place. It is important to obtain legal advice as early as possible, especially where there are international elements, immigration issues, donor conception, or questions around legal parenthood.

Legal parenthood in surrogacy

In England and Wales, the person who gives birth to the child is treated as the child’s legal mother at birth, even where she is not biologically related to the child.

If the surrogate is married or in a civil partnership, her spouse or civil partner may also be treated as the child’s second legal parent at birth, unless they did not consent to the arrangement.

This means that intended parents are not automatically the legal parents of the child at birth. In most cases, intended parents will need to apply to the family court for a parental order after the child is born.

A parental order transfers legal parenthood from the surrogate, and where relevant her spouse or civil partner, to the intended parent or intended parents. Once the parental order is made, the intended parent or intended parents become the child’s legal parents and a new birth certificate can be issued.

Why is a parental order important?

A parental order is an important step in securing your legal relationship with your child.

Without a parental order, intended parents may face difficulties with:

Making medical decisions for the child
Making education decisions
Travelling abroad with the child
Inheritance and pension issues
Legal complications if the intended parents separate
Future involvement of the surrogate in legal decisions

Even where everyone agrees on the arrangement, a surrogacy agreement is not legally enforceable in the UK. A parental order is therefore usually the legal route used to secure the intended parents’ status as the child’s legal parents.