With UK courts seeing a rise in cases of stateless children born via international surrogacy, Growing Families’ International Advisory Board will host a legal forum in London on May 10th. The event will gather leading UK and European fertility law experts to address the growing legal uncertainty tied to foreign surrogacy agencies and to explore safeguards for intended parents and children.
The meeting precedes Growing Families’ Annual UK/EU Seminar, which focuses on best practices in surrogacy. It aims to raise awareness of legal risks, encourage informed decisions, and drive the development of protective strategies across borders.
International bans could signal a broader, more troubling shift—potentially serving as an early warning sign of increasing restrictions on human rights in general. Unregulated donor IVF and surrogacy are becoming increasingly problematic, particularly as women in England and Wales continue to delay childbirth. According to Office for National Statistics projections, this trend is expected to persist, with girls reaching adulthood in 2025 likely to have only one child by the age of 35.
Demand for donor eggs and surrogacy among UK nationals continues to grow amid a poorly regulated system and limited access to well-screened UK donors and surrogates. This has led to a surge of ‘reproductive refugees’ seeking services abroad. Over the past two years, the UK government has failed to implement any recommendations from the surrogacy review it commissioned from the UK and Scottish Law Commissions. Vulnerable infertile couples are left in a state of confusion, often targeted by an increasing number of unscrupulous operators in Eastern Europe offering donors and surrogates without adequate protections or care.
The legal landscape is becoming even more complex. Scotland is actively debating a potential ban on surrogacy, with a motion in the Scottish Parliament calling for a complete prohibition on ethical, legal, and human rights grounds. If adopted, Scotland would join countries such as France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, which have already rejected surrogacy as incompatible with the protection of women’s rights and dignity. Spain, meanwhile, is moving to reinforce its strict ban on surrogacy.
Reaching an international agreement on surrogacy recognition through a Hague Convention has proven impossible, largely due to polarised attitudes among European countries. Ireland has banned commercial surrogacy both domestically and internationally, while Italy has classified it as a universal crime.
Growing Families invites policymakers, legal experts, and intended parents to join the upcoming seminar to discuss best practices, address these urgent legal and ethical challenges, and create a safer and more supportive environment for families navigating surrogacy.