Law Commission surrogacy reform consultation event, London, 12 July 2019
Brilliant Beginnings and NGA Law were delighted to host the Law Commission’s first consultation event on surrogacy law reform this evening at our London office. Leading London surrogacy professionals were invited, including lawyers, CAFCASS officers, fertility clinicians and one of the UK’s leading High Court surrogacy judges.
Law Commissioner Professor Nick Hopkins and Spencer Clarke began by explaining in detail the Law Commission’s provisional recommendations on surrogacy law reform, including:
- A new pathway for U.K. surrogacy which (subject to screening, legal advice, counselling, a written agreement and the involvement of a regulated fertility clinic or surrogacy organisation) will enable the intended parents of a child born through surrogacy to be recognised as the legal parents from birth
- Improvements to the current system of immigration and parental orders for parents going overseas for surrogacy
- A framework for discussing whether there should be limits on some types of payments to U.K. surrogates and if so how those limits could be enforced.
There was a thoughtful discussion with attendees, covering a wide range of issues including surrogate expenses and compensation, how the welfare of children can best be safeguarded and the importance of including parents who use double donation to conceive their child.
It was good in particular to hear the Law Commission say so clearly that its starting point has been that surrogacy is a legitimate way of building a family and that the law needs to work for those most closely affected by it.
Although this event was by invitation, the Law Commission is hosting a series of public events and is keen for parents through surrogacy and surrogates to attend, and it is crucial they hear from families and surrogates from across the U.K. as well as the professionals who support them. Find out more, get involved and sign up here:
16:30, Wednesday 17 July – Manchester
09:30, Friday 19 July – Exeter
16:00, Monday 22 July – Brighton
16:00, Tuesday 23 July – Cardiff
16:30, Tuesday 03 September – Birmingham
You can read the full Law Commission consultation document, or the summary, and respond to the consultation here until 27 September 2019.
Find out more about our campaign for surrogacy law reform.