Surrogacy law reform in the UK: the ambiguous position of payments to the surrogate

Brown, A. (2021) Surrogacy law reform in the UK: the ambiguous position of payments to the surrogate. Child and Family Law Quarterly, 33(2), pp. 95-114.

Abstract

This article considers the regulation of payments within surrogacy arrangements in the United Kingdom. In recent years, there has been growing academic criticism of the law governing surrogacy arrangements and repeated calls for law reform. In June 2019, the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission published a Joint Consultation Paper, 'Building Families Through Surrogacy: a New Law', which notes that, 'the current law is out of date, unclear and not fit for purpose'.1 One area where such issues are apparent is the regulation of payments from the intended parents to the surrogate. The judicial approach to the granting of 'parental orders', under section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, has been criticised within the academic literature and the consultation paper recognises these criticisms in considering options for reform. However, while acknowledging that the position will likely be developed in the final report, this article argues that the equivocal approach taken in the consultation paper to the regulation of payments may result in the criticisms made against the current legal regime not being effectively addressed, because the approach regarding payments is piecemeal and lacks a clear underlying regulatory rationale.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Brown, Dr Alan
• Authors: Brown, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Journal Name: Child and Family Law Quarterly
• Publisher: Jordan Publishing
• ISSN: 1358-8184
• ISSN (Online): 1742-6618
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 Jordan Publishing
• First Published: First published in Child and Family Law Quarterly 33(2): 95-111
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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