Commercial surrogacy gets a boost
Family
Comment | 31 January 2011
Commercial surrogacy was highlighted by recent news that Sir Elton John and David Furnish have become parents after entering a surrogacy arrangement in the US, where such arrangements are legal in certain states. Now, UK courts have taken a further step towards relaxing restrictions on commercial surrogacy in the case of L (A Minor) [2010].
Under English law parents who have a child via a commercial surrogacy arrangement can only be legally recognise d as the child’s parents if the court retrospectively approves the arrangement.
As a result of a change in the law last year, the child’s welfare is now the paramount consideration rather than just one of several to balance against the public policy of discouraging commercial surrogacy. The practical effect, as noted by the court in the present case, is that the court will now give its blessing in almost all cases. This looks likely to encourage more couples to enter into surrogacy arrangements abroad before returning to the UK with their children.
