Surrogacy court cases

Most surrogacy cases are heard by the court privately, but when difficulties or complications arise or the boundaries of the law are being tested, the court publishes its decision to give guidance for future decisions.

The following are recent leading surrogacy cases heard in the English High Court*:

International surrogacy cases

Z v C (2011) - Israeli parents who had settled in the UK satisfied the court that they were 'domiciled' in the UK in order to obtain a parental order

Re X (children) (2011) - the President of the High Court Family Division awarded parenthood to the British parents of twins born in India, endorsing Mr Justice Hedley's previous judgments

Re IJ (a child) (2011) - resolved legal difficulties following a British couple who entered into a Ukrainian surrogacy arrangement, with Mr Justice Hedley warning of the pitfalls of foreign surrogacy (we acted for the parents in this case)

Re L (a minor) 2010 - awarded parenthood to a British couple who had a baby through surrogacy in Illinois, USA, making the landmark principle that the court must make the child's welfare its paramount consideration (we acted for the parents in this case)

Re X and Y (foreign surrogacy) 2008 – the first UK case to award parenthood to a British couple who conceived through an international commercial surrogacy arrangement (we acted for the parents in this case)

Re G (surrogacy: foreign domicile) 2007 – problems experienced by a Turkish couple who conceived with a UK surrogate mother, who were not domiciled in the UK and so not eligible to apply for a parental order