Kim Cotton to close surrogacy organisation after 37 years

Kim Cotton, the UK's first surrogate to come to public attention, has decided to close her surrogacy agency after 37 years of operation.

Cotton first came to national attention 40 years ago, an experience that sparked a 'profound passion' for empowering others to follow in her footsteps. In 1988, she co-founded Childlessness Overcome Through Surrogacy (COTS), the UK's first surrogacy organisation. Since then, the non-profit COTS has supported over 1000 pregnancies. But with surging demand for surrogacy outpacing supply, Cotton has decided to close the organisation this month.

'The pressure I feel to try to find people surrogates now, it's just overwhelming,' she told the Guardian. 'I get phone calls every day from couples, often in tears. The desperation is just heartbreaking. It's terrible.'

Around 400 children are born each year to UK parents through surrogacy. Of these, more than half are born through international surrogacy arrangements. Campaigners argue that restrictive UK surrogacy laws are driving intended parents abroad, where regulations are often less stringent or absent altogether.

The UK first introduced legislation governing surrogacy in 1985, following Cotton's pregnancy, which at the time attracted significant media attention.

'I have dedicated years to advocating for reforms concerning surrogacy laws, which in contemporary society are antiquated and irrelevant,' said Cotton. 'They've not changed since 1985 when I was a surrogate... And it's just on the back burner now. It's a damn shame.'

In 2023, the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Law Commission of Scotland published a joint report and draft legislation recommending significant changes to UK surrogacy law (see BioNews 1185). However, the UK government postponed surrogacy legislation reform after the change of administration in 2024 (see BioNews 1289). In August 2025, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology announced a plan to publish a POSTnote exploring options for surrogacy law reform (see BioNews 1301), indicating that it might return to the legislative agenda.

'I'm sure things will change in the future, but it's politics. It's too slow for me,' said Cotton. 'And that's why I have to back out, because I really thought we were going to get change with the Law Commission, and then suddenly the government changed and that was it.'

Despite closing COTS, Cotton remains passionate about surrogacy and has launched a surrogacy consultancy advice line to continue offering guidance to surrogates and intended parents.

Cotton was a speaker at PET's recent event, '40 Years of the Surrogacy Arrangements Act – What Next for Surrogacy?' (see BioNews 1299). You can listen to her relate all her experiences in the podcast recording of the event, which is also published in BioNews this week (see BioNews 1305).

'Unfortunately, infertility knows no boundaries. It affects people from all walks of life,' she said at the event. 'At least, thanks to our pioneering efforts through COTS, surrogacy is now fully established in the UK as an alternative solution to childlessness.'