# anyone done/doing surrogacy with a SM outside the UK?



## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

Have any of you got any experience of doing surrogacy outside of the UK with an agency or informal arrangements, if so please can you share your experiences/costs etc. 
I am not married so therefore it makes things difficult in the UK with the law.
L x


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## EJJB (Mar 18, 2005)

Hi,
I don't know anything about surrogacy abroad as our surrogate lives in the next county to us , but just want to make you aware that to obtain a parental order in this country you need to be married.
I think there is a possibility you could adopt the child, but it would be a legal nightmare with lots of social services involvement.
There is no point in you even looking for a surrogate if you can't get a parental order.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but that's how it is.
EJJB
  x


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## Jo (Mar 22, 2002)

Hi I haven't but this might help 

http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=122549.0

Good Luck in your journey 

Love Jo
x x x


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## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

Thanks so much ladies
L x


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## NatGamble (Mar 1, 2007)

Hiya all

You do need to take enormous care over international surrogacy arrangements.  The basic problem is that if you are domiciled in a part of the UK, the terms of the HFE Act will apply to you no matter where in the world you conceive, and that means that you have to go through the same processes to acquire parental rights as you would if you used a UK surrogate.  The particular problems which arise are:

- You have to show you haven't paid anything other than reasonable expenses.  Most foreign countries with organised surrogacy will offer arrangements on a commercial basis, and if you sign a commercial agreement that could preclude you from getting a parental order in the UK.

- You have to show that the surrogate (and where relevant her husband) fully and freely consent to the making of the order.  That can be difficult evidentially, since the court cannot easily send a parental order reporter abroad to confirm consent as they would normally do.

- If your surrogate is married then her husband will be the legal father at birth, which means that neither intended parent is a legal parent under UK law.  This is where things get really tricky, since your child will then not be entitled to a British passport and you will find it very difficult getting entry clearance to bring them into the UK.

It is absolutely critical to get legal advice on your particular situation before you embark on any kind of international surrogacy arrangement.  There are ways of avoiding these difficulties in certain circumstances - so international surrogacy is not impossible - but you need to get things right from the start or you can end up in an irretrievable mess.

It's also worth being aware that these difficult issues are only just starting to come to light as more people travel abroad for treatment.  The HFEA website, British embassies abroad and UK and foreign clinics are on the whole pretty unaware of the legal risks.  I've had quite a few clients who have been told by foreign clinics that they will be named on the birth certificate and the legalities are all very simple, but that is manifestly wrong, and you would risk being arrested for producing false documents if you relied on a foreign birth certificate naming you as the parents.  Scary stuff.  

Natalie
[email protected]


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## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

Thanks so much natalie your advice is much appreciate I was thinking about Ireland only because I have seen adverts in the Irish papers from a gay man asking for a surrogate mother, and I thought it would be closer and probably more reliable that Eastern Europe and the US is out of my price range.
L x


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