16. Surrogacy

This chapter first discusses the legitimacy of surrogacy, and the particular issues raised by cross-border surrogacy arrangements. It then turns to the regulation of surrogacy in the UK. Although commercial involvement in surrogacy is prohibited, the court has a wide discretion retrospectively to authorize payments to surrogates. In addition, the courts have adopted a flexible approach to some of the other criteria for the making of parental orders. Finally, it evaluates the Law Commissions’ proposed reforms.