UK Government postpones surrogacy law reform

The UK Government has postponed proposed updates to 40-year-old surrogacy legislation.

The Law Commission of England and Wales published a joint report with the Scottish Law Commission in 2023, proposing comprehensive reforms of surrogacy law in the UK. However, the UK Government has now stated that while it supports surrogacy and welcomes the Law Commissions' report, it has decided to postpone surrogacy legislation reform.

'There is a lot of detail to carefully consider, and the Department for Health and Social Care are working with other key Government Departments, who have an interest in the changes suggested, to review the report's recommendations,' said a Report on the implementation of Law Commission recommendations from the Ministry of Justice. 'This will inform a response from the new Government to the report, which will be published in due course.'

In the UK, surrogacy is governed by the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985 and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. However, the Law Commissions argued that there are significant problems with the current law, including the fact that intended parents must wait until the child has been born and then apply to court to become the child's legal parents. They Law Commissions also highlighted a lack of clarity concerning the payments that can be made to the surrogate by the intended parents.

The Law Commissions published their report, Building Families Through Surrogacy: A New Law, in 2023. The report aimed to offer clarity, safeguards and support for surrogates, intended parents and children born through surrogacy. The proposed regulatory regime would enable intended parents to become legal parents of the child from birth, subject to the surrogate having the right to withdraw consent, and ensure that appropriate checks and safeguards take place before the surrogacy arrangement is made and the child is conceived. The report also includes proposals to clarify the law on payments, and to introduce new regulation of non-profit surrogacy organisations in the UK.

However, in a letter to the Law Commission of England and Wales in April 2025, health minister Baroness Merron said that 'the Government is unable to prioritise surrogacy reform and do not intend to put forward these legislative proposals at the current time.'

The Government's postponement of reform has been met with disappointment from some family lawyers. Emma Dewhurst, a solicitor at Hall Brown Family Law, told The Times that the Law Commissions' proposals would have represented 'a huge improvement on the current system'. She added that Government's lack of clarification of existing laws is 'in no one's best interests', and may drive more people to seek surrogacy abroad.

The complexities of overseas surrogacy arrangements have been highlighted by recent court cases. Earlier this year, a High Court judge expressed 'enormous concern' in a commercial cross jurisdiction surrogacy arrangement (see BioNews 1279). Another High Court judge also warned of the dangers of complex foreign surrogacy arrangements, particularly in jurisdictions where surrogacy is illegal (see BioNews 1278).

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The past, present and future of UK surrogacy law will be discussed at the free-to-attend online event 40 Years of the Surrogacy Arrangements Act: What Next for Surrogacy?, taking place on Wednesday 16 July 2025.

Find out more and register here.