reforming surrogacy law

When I first started my research into surrogacy law in 2018, the prospect of law reform was distant. Everything I read told me that we needed reform and I knew the Law Commission were consulting, but I never anticipated that five years later, as I move towards the end of my PhD journey, we would be so close to a substantive change in the law.

When I say ‘close’, I am, of course, speaking relatively. The Law Commissions’ final report and draft bill will bring to an end the first step of law reform, but will be just the beginning of the next stage. As the proposals move into the folds of Government and Parliament to hopefully enact new legislation, there is no doubt that fresh challenges and objections will emerge.

This is why I wanted to start Reforming Surrogacy Law. The blog aims to demystify the legislative process and chart the development of the final report and draft bill towards – hopefully – a new regulatory framework that better meets the needs of intended parents, surrogates, and most importantly, the surrogate-born children.

A bit about me

I have been researching the law relating to surrogacy since 2018, and I formally started my PhD journey with Cardiff University in 2019. I am undertaking my PhD on a part-time basis, with the aim of completing in the Autumn of 2024.

My research is looking at the extent to which domestic legal frameworks adequately protect the rights of surrogate-born children. It is a doctrinal research study – this means I am not doing any empirical research, instead analysing domestic laws against international rights frameworks. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and European Convention on Human Rights are the basis for my research.

As my research has developed, I have focused on two particularly pertinent rights: the right of the child to have their best interests as a primary consideration in all decisions and actions relating to them, and the right of the child to preserve their identity.

As well as England and Wales, my PhD is also looking at the legal frameworks in Sweden and California. Sweden takes a strict approach to the practice of surrogacy, whilst California has a permissive commercial model. England and Wales currently sits in between – surrogacy is permitted, but only on an altruistic basis with surrogacy agreements being unenforceable. My research aims to explore how these differing regulatory approaches may impact upon individual decisions for surrogate-born children.

What is to come?

The Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission, who have jointly worked on this project, are due to release their final report and draft bill in Spring of this year. Once the report and bill are published, Reforming Surrogacy Law will aim to provide an overview of the key aspects of the proposals, with associated commentary. As and when the draft bill comes to be considered by the lawmakers, we will chart the development of this process.

Please do comment and get in touch along the way!