Archive for the ‘gay men surrogacy’ Category
Monday, April 29th, 2013
Natalie and Richard were at the G3 awards on Friday night, a gala evening hosted by Charlie Condou and Sophie Ward, celebrating leading figures and influencers in the LGBT world.
NGA was proud to be nominated for not just one but two of the prestigious awards – Family Provider of the Year, and Diversity Champion of the Year – at an event attended by guests including Stephen Fry, Clare Balding, Peter Tatchell and Ben Summerskill.
Here’s what G3 said about us:
Natalie Gamble Associates is known for its pioneering work pushing the boundaries of the law for same sex parents. The team has helped thousands of alternative families, including acting in the groundbreaking cases which have made UK law on donor conception and international surrogacy. NGA campaigns on behalf of alternative families, successfully defending the right for same sex parents to be named on birth certificates together back in 2008, and recently winning a long campaign to give gay dads through surrogacy equal maternity leave rights.
Find out more about our work with same sex parents or about our team, or contact us for help or advice.
Tags: 26 April 2013, Diversity Champion, Family provider, G3 awards, Natalie Gamble, Natalie Gamble Associates, Out in the City awards, Richard Perrins
Posted in fertility law, gay men surrogacy, lesbian parenting, Natalie Gamble Associates news, same sex parenting | Comments Off
Sunday, April 7th, 2013
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has voted to update the guidance it gives to UK fertility clinics on surrogacy. The new Code of Practice will:
* clarify what UK clinics should say to surrogacy patients, and
* update clinic procedures and forms for surrogacy.
The HFEA voted to make these changes (following advice from NGA and its own lawyers) at its meeting on 20 March 2013 and will now undergo a period of consultation on the practicalities, before the new Code of Practice is introduced on 1 October 2013. This includes a workshop for clinics and professionals practising in surrogacy, to be held at the HFEA on 30 April 2013.
We congratulate the HFEA on a very sensible decision, which will mean clearer guidance for parents and clinics dealing with increasing numbers of surrogacy cases. In particular, it will be made clear that where a surrogate is unmarried, one of the intended parents (whether gay or straight, and whether or not a biological parent) can be named on the child’s initial birth certificate together with the surrogate. This approach will make the HFEA’s guidance entirely consistent with longstanding practice at register offices and in the family courts.
You can find out more about the HFEA meeting on 20 March here, and there is more on our website about surrogacy law.
Note added – Natalie has written an article for Bionews on this issue ‘The HFEA gets into gear on surrogacy’ which you can read online here.
Tags: Authority meeting 20 March 2013, Code of Practice, HFEA, Natalie Gamble Associates, surrogacy campaigning, surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer, UK surrogacy
Posted in fertility law, gay men surrogacy, same sex parenting, UK surrogacy, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Friday, March 15th, 2013
The decision in Re A & B (Parental Order: Domicile) represents another landmark ruling for NGA – a parental order having been granted to a non-British gay couple following the birth of their son through Indian surrogacy last year.
The case not only clarifies the law for foreign but UK-resident parents conceiving through surrogacy, but also shows how same sex parents are being drawn to the UK’s open culture and law. We were proud to have supported the parents in this case through to successful conclusion, and once again to have helped make new law.
What happened?
The parents, who are American and Polish respectively, moved to the UK as a couple in 2008 (having registered their domestic partnership in California four years earlier). They were initially attracted to the UK by our unrivalled equal laws and gay rights – something they were not afforded in their respective home counties. Having decided to start a family, they found a surrogate through an agency in India and were delighted when their son was born in 2012. On their return to the UK they sought help from NGA to establish the non-biological dad’s parental status, which led to their application for a parental order (the legal solution following surrogacy, enabling both intended parents to become their child’s legal parents under UK law).
What does the law say?
In order to be eligible for a parental order, at least one of the intended parents must demonstrate to the court’s satisfaction that they are ‘domiciled’ in a part of the UK. Domicile for these purposes is more complex than simply where a person lives – it comes down to where their permanent roots and allegiances lie. This particular criterion (one of a number of strict requirements attached to the parental order) is designed to prevent foreign parents ‘forum shopping’, by using the UK court to grant them a more favourable legal solution than their own country might. The parents in this case therefore had to show that they had made the UK their permanent home and that, notwithstanding their American and Polish citizenship status, they had cut their ties with the US and Poland and did not intend to return.
What did the court consider?
In order to establish whether the parents in this case had met this high bar, the judge considered a number of factors in detail. She was particularly assisted by the parents’ statements, which outlined in detail their connections here (including that they ran a UK based company and both intended to apply for British citizenship at the earliest opportunity) and their affection for the UK including their very personal reasons for making it their home and the place that they raise their family, away from the discrimination abundant in their home countries. The judge went on to quote one of their reasons for not returning to the US, “We will never return and raise our son in a society in which schools may censor him from talking about his family”, as a factor which bolstered their contentions.
Why is this case significant?
Mrs Justice Theis reiterated in this case the importance, for non-British parents applying for a parental order, of demonstrating a clear intention to make the UK their permanent home – the court otherwise being powerless to make a parental order. The judge was also assisted by an independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding domicile by CAFCASS Legal, who found that the parents had abandoned their respective domicile of origins in favour of English domiciles of choice. This case (in addition to Z v C [2011]) provides helpful guidance for future non-British parents through surrogacy who hope to apply for a parental order.
What you need to know if you are not British, or are British and based abroad, and considering applying for a parental order
Domicile is a far-reaching principle of law and far from contingent on just one factor. Having dealt with the key cases which have tested the law on this, we would be happy to advise you on your eligibility to apply for a parental order, no matter what your circumstances. You can contact us here, or alternatively there is more information about domicile on our website.
Tags: commercial surrogacy, domicile, fertility law, fertility lawyer, gay men conception, gay parenting, gay surrogacy law, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, Indian surrogacy, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, law, Mrs Justice Theis, Natalie Gamble Associates, Re A and B (parental order domicile), same sex parenting law, surrogacy agreements, surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer, surrogacy solicitor
Posted in fertility law, gay men surrogacy, international surrogacy, Natalie Gamble Associates news, same sex parenting | Comments Off
Thursday, March 7th, 2013
Natalie was interviewed by James Naughtie on this morning’s BBC Radio 4 Today Programme about surrogacy (listen again here). The programme covered a US surrogacy case which hit the news after a US surrogate mother refused to terminate her pregnancy at 21 weeks when it was discovered that the baby would be born severely disabled.
In the UK, surrogacy law gives all the rights to the woman who carries the pregnancy – she is the legal mother. Although a case like this has never happened in the UK, if it did there would be no doubt (as there was under US law) that the surrogate mother would hold all the cards. But is this the right approach?
In practice, we know on the ground that surrogacy disputes are incredibly rare. For the vast majority of cases, it would make more sense for the intended (biological) parents, rather than the surrogate, to have legal responsibilities much earlier – it’s what everyone involved wants, and the long delay transferring parenthood leaves children vulnerable for far too long. And where there are disputes, we need a more sophisticated approach to balancing the interests of all involved – surrogate, parents and child.
The real lesson of this case is that we can avoid problems like this by giving the right support at the start. Parents and surrogates need to communicate clearly, and those with radically mismatched views on termination should not proceed together. That is why it is so crazy that UK surrogacy law goes out of its way to deny those going into surrogacy arrangements the support they need. Under UK law, surrogacy contracts are unenforceable and illegal for lawyers to draft, and professional matching and brokering services are prohibited by criminal law. It’s time for that to change.
There is more information about surrogacy law and our campaigning work on our website.
Tags: Marilyn Crawshaw, Natalie Gamble, surrogacy campaigning, surrogacy law, Today, UK surrogacy
Posted in fertility law, gay men surrogacy, international surrogacy, UK surrogacy | Comments Off
Friday, January 25th, 2013
Metro featured a big spread on Wednesday asking whether commercial surrogacy should be made legal in the UK.
Read Natalie’s comments on the increasing acceptance of surrogacy, and the need to create a more structured legal framework, as well as legal changes urgently needed to include single parents and to give intended parents legal status from birth. The Metro article is here.
You can also find out more about surrogacy law and our campaigning work from our website. Follow us on Twitter if you want to get involved.
Tags: Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, British Surrogacy Centre, commercial surrogacy, Metro, Natalie Gamble, surrogacy law, Surrogacy UK, UK, UK surrogacy
Posted in gay men surrogacy, international surrogacy, Natalie Gamble Associates news, same sex parenting, UK surrogacy | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
There has been press coverage over the past couple of days about the new Indian surrogacy laws blocking gay dads from accessing surrogacy in India. It is an issue which has been brewing for a while, with a Bill lurking in the Indian Parliament for the past two years designed to regulate the Indian surrogacy industry and to stop foreign parents conceiving children they can’t take home. The changes affect all foreign parents considering surrogacy in India, but hit gay dads particularly hard.
Although the new draft Indian law itself has not yet been enacted, it seems that it is being brought into force by the back door. The Indian authorities have started requiring foreign parents obtain a ‘medical visa’ to travel to India for the purposes of engaging in a surrogacy arrangement (and this covers trips involving any treatment, including leaving sperm samples).
What has happened this week, as reported in the Times of India, is that Indian surrogacy clinics have been notified that they must register with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and ensure their foreign patients have the visa before giving any treatment. Surrogacy clinics are, in other words, being given responsibility for enforcing the new visa requirements.
What are the new requirements?
In practice, UK parents are in a better position than those in other countries where surrogacy is not recognised at all, but gay dads and unmarried couples will not be eligible. To get the medical visa for surrogacy in India, the Indian authorities say that:
1. The parents must be a man and woman, married for at least 2 years.
2. The parents’ home embassy must provide a letter confirming that their country recognises surrogacy and that any child born will be entitled to enter the parents’ home country. The British High Commission has helpfully issued a letter for this purpose which is available on their website here.
3. The couple must undertake to care for the child.
4. The clinic must be recognized by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
5. The couple must have a notarised surrogacy agreement with their surrogate mother.
6. The couple must be informed that they need an exit visa under Indian law to take their child out of India after the birth and, to get that, they must have taken custody of their child and discharged all their responsibilities as per their surrogacy agreement.
So what now?
Many parents we work with go to the US for surrogacy, where there is a much more established legal framework which is supportive of all types of families and of surrogacy generally. For those with a more limited budget, the UK is probably the safest option, albeit that it has its own challenges. Other international destinations (places like the Ukraine) are likely to revive as a result of these changes in India.
Parents contemplating international surrogacy also need to bear in mind that, even without these new Indian law issues, international surrogacy law is complicated and that the UK legal position does not automatically reflect the law in the destination country. There is more information about the UK legal issues associated with international surrogacy on our website.
Tags: gay dads, ICMR, Indian surrogacy, Indian surrogacy law, international surrogacy law, medical visa, same sex parents, surrogacy visa, Times of India
Posted in family building, fertility law, gay men surrogacy, international surrogacy, same sex parenting | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 15th, 2013
The Independent newspaper has criticised the sharp rise in international surrogacy arrangements, quoting Natalie on UK surrogacy law. Responding to a study newly published in the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, the Independent says that international surrogacy urgently needs regulating to prevent child trafficking, just like inter-country adoption a generation ago. It points to the rise in rich westerners accessing surrogacy in poor countries like India, and highlights how UK law fails to stop the practice and simply gives parents a ‘rap on the knuckles’ after the event.
At NGA we are proud to have helped parents win legal parental status after international surrogacy. We believe it is the right outcome for much-wanted families who are trying to navigate outdated law. The process is not easy, and the UK court applies great care and sophistication, keeping its focus quite rightly on the welfare of the child.
Surrogacy is very different from adoption, because it involves parents conceiving their own biological child. Collaborative reproduction can be positive – a win-win process which addness richness to the lives of all involved, including the cherished child. But there are potential problems too. The worry is that women will be pushed (whether by exploitative intermediaries or by environmental factors like poverty) into becoming surrogate mothers without fully understanding the risks or without free consent. This is what regulation needs to deal with, not placing restrictions on parents.
And before we start criticising countries like India, let’s get our own house in order. The lack of up to date law and regulation in the UK is what is driving parents abroad for surrogacy. We don’t need to stop parents crossing borders; we need to make surrogacy safer, easier and better regulated in the UK so they don’t need to.
You can read the Independent article here (and a follow up article in the Daily Mail). You can find out more about international surrogacy law and our campaigning on surrogacy from our website.
Tags: Independent, international surrogacy law, Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, Marilyn Crawshaw, Natalie Gamble, surrogacy campaigning, UK surrogacy
Posted in fertility law, gay men surrogacy, international surrogacy, Natalie Gamble, Natalie Gamble Associates news | Comments Off
Friday, January 11th, 2013
We are thrilled to have been nominated by G3 magazine for two of their Readers’ Awards. As a team, NGA has been nominated for the Family Provider/Initiative of the Year, while Natalie has been nominated as Diversity Champion of the Year.
Introducing the Awards, G3 says:
“The Awards are designed to showcase those individuals and organisations who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the LGBT community. We believe that those who go the extra mile to ensure equality of opportunity and fair treatment for all, deserve to be recognised.”
Thank you so much to the readers who nominated us. The winners will be unveiled at an awards ceremony hosted by Charlie Condou and Sophie Ward in April. If you would like to vote for us to win, you can vote here.
Tags: alternative family, Diversity Champion, donor conception, Family Provider/Initiative, G3 award, gay parent, lesbian parent, Natalie Gamble Associates, UK surrogacy
Posted in civil partnership, donor conception, fertility law, gay men surrogacy, lesbian parenting, Natalie Gamble Associates news, same sex parenting | Comments Off
Thursday, November 15th, 2012
Some days I feel very proud of what we do here, and today is one of those days. After a campaign of more than five years, I am thrilled to post that the government announced yesterday that they would be introducing adoption leave (equivalent to maternity leave) rights for parents through surrogacy.
Until now, parents whose biological child is carried by another woman have had no rights to time off work when their new baby arrives, unlike parents who give birth or who adopt a child. This has been grossly unfair, and resulted in parents through surrogacy having to quit their jobs or go back to work if their employer does not (or cannot) give leave on a discretionary basis.
The new rights will be introduced as part of the government’s maternity leave and adoption leave reforms, expected to come into force in 2015. Although the full detail has yet to be confirmed, we know that parents through surrogacy will be entitled to two antenatal appointments during the pregnancy, and adoption leave after the birth. This will be available to all couples eligible to apply for a parental order, including heterosexual parents and gay dads. Surrogate mothers will also retain their right to maternity leave to recover from giving birth.
More information is available in the government’s response to the consultation on modern workplaces which says:
We propose that intended parents in surrogacy cases who satisfy the criteria for a Parental
Order and intend to apply, or have applied, to a court for a Parental Order will be entitled to
leave and pay on the same basis as adopters who are eligible for statutory adoption leave
and pay, subject to the qualifying conditions and evidential requirements. In addition, both
intended parents will be entitled to take unpaid time off to attend two antenatal appointments
with the surrogate mother carrying their child.
What is so exciting about the change, as well as the practical legal rights it will introduce for new parents, is that this is the very first time in UK legal history that parents through surrogacy have been recognised as having any rights in advance of the birth of their child. This is a very significant recognition that surrogacy is real and here to stay, and hopefully a first step towards wider reform of our surrogacy laws.
There is more information about surrogacy law on our website, and more about our campaigning work.
Tags: fertility law, fertility lawyer, gay men conception, gay parenting, gay surrogacy law, international surrogacy law, law, maternity, maternity leave, Natalie Gamble, Natalie Gamble Associates, surrogacy campaigning, surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer, surrogacy solicitor, UK surrogacy
Posted in fertility law, gay men surrogacy, international surrogacy, Natalie Gamble Associates news, same sex parenting, UK surrogacy, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Sunday, November 11th, 2012
Kyle’s story has featured in a big piece in the Daily Mail, and in the Metro, as well as various other local stories and radio interviews. Well done to Kyle for championing the rights of single dads: we are right behind you!
You can read the Daily Mail feature here, or find out more about surrogacy for single parents from our website.
Tags: gay surrogacy law, Kyle Casson, Natalie Gamble Associates, single father, solo dad, solo father, surrogacy agreements, surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer, surrogacy solicitor, surrogate mother, UK surrogacy
Posted in family building, fertility law, gay men surrogacy, Natalie Gamble Associates news, same sex parenting, UK surrogacy | Comments Off
Natalie and Richard were at the G3 awards on Friday night, a gala evening hosted by Charlie Condou and Sophie Ward, celebrating leading figures and influencers in the LGBT world. 
Natalie Gamble Associates is known for its pioneering work pushing the boundaries of the law for same sex parents. The team has helped thousands of alternative families, including acting in the groundbreaking cases which have made UK law on donor conception and international surrogacy. NGA campaigns on behalf of alternative families, successfully defending the right for same sex parents to be named on birth certificates together back in 2008, and recently winning a long campaign to give gay dads through surrogacy equal maternity leave rights.
