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Demand for surrogacy is rapidly rising in the UK, and pressure is mounting on the government to reform existing legislation.
Applications to become the legal parent of a surrogate baby have almost doubled in a decade, with most of those babies born to women in other countries where commercial surrogacy is legal. Campaigners and lawyers are calling for new laws to recognise intended parents as legal parents from birth, rather than waiting for a parental order. They argue that a better-regulated system could prevent so many people seeking surrogacy arrangements abroad. But critics warn that reform could both water down safeguards in the UK and increase the exploitation of surrogates overseas.
What are the numbers?
There were 758 applications in the UK for parental orders for babies born to surrogates in the year to March – up from 399 in 2016, according to data obtained by WSP Solicitors, which advises on surrogacy. And the total for 2025, according to figures obtained by The Guardian, was more than 980.
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The increase has largely been driven by gay couples who want to become parents, as well as “increasing infertility” in heterosexual couples, and “shifting cultural attitudes”, said the paper. The majority of these babies are born overseas, mostly in the US, Nigeria and Georgia, where surrogates can be paid.
What is the current law?
In Britain, women can only receive “reasonable expenses” for “altruistic surrogacy”, but payment and commercial surrogacy is banned. The woman who gives birth is the legal mother of the baby, and, if she’s married or in a civil partnership, her spouse is recorded as the legal second parent, even if they have no biological connection to the child – unless they do not give their permission.
Intended parents must apply to a court for a parental order after the baby’s birth in order to become the legal parents, even if they already are biologically. Critics say this system can be distressing for intended parents, and could put off prospective surrogates who do not wish to be recorded as the baby’s legal mother. A recent report by a surrogacy-regulations expert at Loughborough University described the UK law as “creaking at the seams”.
What reforms are proposed?
In 2023, the Law Commission proposed changing current legislation to recognise intended parents as legal parents from birth. It also recommended encouraging domestic surrogacy arrangements by bringing in mandatory medical screening and background checks before a pregnancy starts; for those who do opt for overseas surrogacy arrangements, it advocated stronger legal and practical safeguards.
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“A simpler process, clearer rules and stronger safeguards would make surrogacy safer and fairer for everyone involved,” Lydia Andrews of WSP Solicitors told The Telegraph.
The recommendations were accepted into a draft bill and, in September, MPs debated a separate petition that called for intended parents to be recognised as legal parents from birth. But the government has said it’s not a legislative priority.
What’s the argument against reform?
Critics say the proposed reforms could weaken the current system that allows a surrogate to change her mind about giving the baby to the intended parents. This is “essential, especially given how many British surrogate mothers use their own eggs”, said Helen Gibson of Surrogacy Concern in The Critic.
There is also a fear that a less burdensome administrative process could actually incentivise more lower-income, and potentially exploitable, women abroad to carry babies for couples in the UK.
Harriet Marsden is a senior staff writer and podcast panellist for The Week, covering world news and writing the weekly Global Digest newsletter. Before joining the site in 2023, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, working for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent among others, and regularly appearing on radio shows. In 2021, she was awarded the “journalist-at-large” fellowship by the Local Trust charity, and spent a year travelling independently to some of England’s most deprived areas to write about community activism. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, and has also worked in Bolivia, Colombia and Spain.
