Why UK surrogacy laws need a ‘real overhaul’

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Surrogate mothers take on a huge burden, with potentially life-changing consequences, but very little is required to be done in order to support them – emotionally or financially.” English law only allows a child to have two parents, and this does not reflect the growing diversity of family forms Dr Elizabeth Chloe Romanis In her view, these reforms address the primary concerns of many intended parents and surrogate mothers alike. “They voiced concerns on how payments to surrogates as standard – or even as an option – necessitated safeguards against potential exploitative practices,” Mahmoud says, and highlights that a few also expressed concerns that the introduction of a monetary element “would render surrogacy even less financially accessible for potential intended parents”. “For example, English law only allows a child to have two parents, and this does not reflect the growing diversity of family forms.” She also suggests that gendered legal language surrounding parenthood has resulted in the law failing to reflect many families’ lived experiences. “The intended parents are vested with legal parenthood,” Romanis and Mahmoud write in their paper, “but their legal status is not as legal mother or legal father, but rather as Parent 1 and Parent 2.” Stuart and Francis’s tears of frustration, as is evident in their hard-won relief at finally being recognised as the parents of their son, did at least end in joy.