A group representing surrogate mothers in the UK has called for a law change to give a baby’s intended parents legal responsibility for the baby from the moment it is born. This is to ensure the surrogate would not be left with the baby if the commissioning parents wanted to abandon it.
Britain’s largest organisation for surrogates says plans to update the laws do not go far enough as they would still leave them with rights over the child for a period after the birth of the child.
At present parents whose child is carried by a surrogate must win a parenting order from a court to gain legal responsibility, a process that can take many months.
The law commission proposed that intended parents should become the legal parents from birth. However, it wants the surrogate mother to retain a right to object for a short period.
