Key Contact
For more information please contact Catherine Polli on 01708 229 444 or by email.
We provide a wide range of legal services to individuals and businesses through our specialist teams of solicitors across our offices.
For those who wish to grow their family through surrogacy, the process can be difficult and complex.
Surrogacy is legal in the UK. However, because of the current law in England dealing with surrogacy arrangements, a great deal of trust is needed between the intended parents and the surrogate. Surrogacy agreements are not currently enforceable by UK law although it is still a good idea to have one – the agreement sets out how the arrangement will work and the commitment that each person is making to the other. One particular commitment is the paying of expenses. In the UK it is illegal to pay a surrogate, but it is usual for expenses to be reimbursed. There are various rules and regulations about expenses and payments. Our specialist family solicitors can guide you through this often complicated aspect of the process.
We understand that it is important to make strong foundations and have clear communication from the outset. Our team can assist you from the earliest stages of the process through to the making of the parental order.
Some clinics may require that the intended parents have taken legal advice in advance of treatment commencing to ensure that they understand about the parental order process after the children is born.
Because of complex legal position in England, many couples look abroad for their surrogate which brings an additional set of potential problems in relation to not only the law of the other country but immigration too.
We can also advise you on the rights of the person donating the sperm as the legal position will depend on whether the sperm was donated via a licensed clinic. There is the issue of parenthood, particularly legal parenthood and how it should be transferred to intended parents. A court order either a parental order or adoption order are required, although it is most common for there to be a parental order. Without a parental order the intended parents may not be the child’s legal parent under English law. At times there can be complications when transferring legal parenthood which we would guide you through.
The parental order has to be applied for within 6 months of the child being born. It involves the family court, and a court-appointed social worker. Parental order applications are typically heard by magistrates. They will be heard by a High Court judge if the child has been born overseas or there are questions over whether the criteria are met. The vast majority of surrogacy cases in England and Wales are straightforward and it is rare that a parental order to transfer parenthood to the IP(s) is not considered in the best interests of the child.
Although it rarely happens, if there is a dispute following the child’s birth, we can also assist you with making an application to the court for a child arrangements order.
It is also sensible to consider making a will before you embark on your surrogacy journey – a will can protect the child in the event of the death of the surrogate or the intended parents. Our wills trusts and probate department can help you with this for a fixed fee.
Our employment law department can also advise you on issues around parental leave.
Our family law department has held Tier 1 status in the prestigious Legal 500 rankings for five years. This is a relatively new area of law which is not dealt with by many family law departments. Our experts can assist you through this journey.
Partner
Partner
Partner
Partner
Senior Associate
Senior Associate
Senior Associate
Senior Associate
Senior Associate
Associate
Solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitor
Contact us now to book a free initial consultation.
Key Contact
For more information please contact Catherine Polli on 01708 229 444 or by email.
"*" indicates required fields
For help and advice, talk to a member of our team. They can advise on the best options in your matter.
Upminster
Pinney Talfourd Solicitors
54 Station Road
Upminster
Essex
RM14 2TU
DX: 35555 Upminster
T: 01708 229 444
F: 01708 228 163
E: upminster@pinneytalfourd.co.uk
Brentwood
Pinney Talfourd Solicitors
30 High Street
Brentwood
Essex
CM14 4AJ
DX: 5003 Brentwood
T: 01277 211 755
F: 01277 261 154
E: brentwood@pinneytalfourd.co.uk
Hornchurch
Pinney Talfourd Solicitors
40 North Street
Hornchurch
Essex
RM11 1EW
DX: 51004 Hornchurch
T: 01708 511 000
F: 01708 511 040
E: hornchurch@pinneytalfourd.co.uk
Chelmsford
Pinney Talfourd Solicitors
Elizabeth House
28 Baddow Road
Chelmsford
Essex
CM2 0DG
T: 01245 206 684
E: mail@pinneytalfourd.co.uk
Canary Wharf
Pinney Talfourd Solicitors
18th Floor
40 Bank Street
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5AB
By appointment only. Please send all written correspondence to our Upminster office.
T: 020 3105 0305
E: canarywharf@pinneytalfourd.co.uk
Leigh-on-Sea
Pinney Talfourd Solicitors
The Old Gasworks
43 Progress Road
Leigh-on-Sea
SS9 5PR
By appointment only. Please send all written correspondence to our Upminster office.
Services
Personal
Business
Online Services
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_GRECAPTCHA | 5 months 27 days | This cookie is set by the Google recaptcha service to identify bots to protect the website against malicious spam attacks. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category . |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
CookieLawInfoConsent | 1 year | Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
wp_law_pdfbuilder_bespoke | 1 Year | Needed for the saving of profiles for PDFs functionality to work |
wp_law_pdfbuilder_list | 1 Year | Needed for the saving of profiles for PDFs functionality to work |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_gat | 1 minute | This cookie is installed by Google Universal Analytics to restrain request rate and thus limit the collection of data on high traffic sites. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. |
_gid | 1 day | Installed by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. |
CONSENT | 2 years | YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 5 months 27 days | A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. |
YSC | session | YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. |
yt-remote-connected-devices | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. |
yt-remote-device-id | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video. |
Select the legal services that you would like to download or add to the portfolio
Title | Type | CV |
---|
Click here to share this shortlist.
(It will expire after 30 days.)
Need more information about the above People and Legal Services?
Talk to one of our clerks: 01708 229 444