Do you need a parental order (where neither intended parent is a legal parent)?
If neither intended parent is a legal parent (typically where the surrogate mother is married at the time of conception; find out more here), neither intended parent has any legal authority to care for the child, or to make decisions about the child’s welfare, until legal steps have been taken. This applies in relation to international surrogacy arrangements as well as UK arrangements, even where the intended parents are named on a foreign birth certificate or have been through a foreign court process to secure their position as parents.
This can cause difficulties in practice (for example over consent to immunisations and medical treatment), particularly where it is not practical to secure the surrogate’s involvement in day-to-day decisions.
The intended parents are also committing a criminal offence in caring for their child when they have no legal connection with him or her under English law, unless they take steps to involve social services to oversee the situation or make a parental order application.
