A UK judge has criticised couples for making informal surrogacy arrangements and warned he would refuse to grant parental recognition if sufficient due diligence was not taken. Almost all European countries ban commercial surrogacy, and several also ban so-called ‘altruistic’ surrogacy.

Two individuals, D and C, sought a parental order for a child, G, who was conceived and born in China via surrogacy. Surrogacy is illegal in China and surrogacy arrangements are generally held to be invalid by Chinese courts.

The contracting couple, the judgment noted, “were entirely unaware that commercial surrogacy was illegal”.

The judge found it was appropriate to make a parental order in this case, as it was in the child’s ‘best interests’, but described the couple’s choice as “unwise”.

The judge added a warning for all others that his decision was “not a licence to engage in unlawful commercial surrogacy arrangements abroad”.

“Would-be parents who are contemplating entering into a commercial foreign surrogacy arrangement should be in no doubt that court will not make a parental order simply because the court is presented with an apparent fait accompli based on the fact that the subject child is already in the care of the intended parent.”