Surrogacy

In Re T (a child) [2011] EWHC 33 (Fam) [2011] All ER (D) 171 (Jan); SJ 1 February p5; NLJ 11 February p195

The applicant and his wife (the ‘Ws’) were unable to conceive together so they registered their interest on a number of surrogacy websites. The first respondent (NT) made contact and offered her services as a surrogate mother. She then stayed with the Ws for a period and they reached an agreement that she would be inseminated by the applicant and, following birth, would give the baby to the Ws and have some limited contact with it. The parties did not reduce that agreement to writing. The applicant inseminated NT and she became pregnant. During the course of the pregnancy, the Ws gave NT a total of £4,500 and bought her various items. However, the parties’ relationship deteriorated and, in the event, NT decided that she wanted to keep the baby. She gave birth to T. The usual procedure in surrogacy would have been for the Ws to apply for a parental order but this requires the consent of the surrogate mother, which NT refused to give. In an attempt to circumvent this refusal, the father applied for a residence order under the Children Act 1989.