Former President of the Family court says UK surrogacy law is ‘unwelcoming’ and needs to change

The former President of the Family court, Sir James Munby, has written an interesting piece sharing his thoughts on the current state of surrogacy law in the UK, the need for change and what he thinks of the ongoing public consultation into surrogacy law reform.

Sir Munby explains that the legislation which governs surrogacy is no longer fit for purpose, and is unsuitable for our modern society where more and more people are starting their families through surrogacy. He describes the current legislation as
‘unwelcoming’, driving some intended parents overseas to pursue surrogacy.

The Law Commission, along with the Scottish Law Commission, are in the process of reviewing the law on surrogacy, and have published a consultation paper which outlines their proposals for how the law could be updated.

Sir Munby is supportive of the regulation of surrogacy, which he says will offer protection to everyone involved. It will, he hopes, make the UK a more hospitable place for intended parents. He is supportive of the Law Commission’s proposed new pathway which is set out in their consultation paper, and is particularly in favour of the establishment of a pre-birth process
which, in his view, is the only way to have ‘real protections against abuse and exploitation.’

The consultation paper is over 500 pages long, but a helpful summary can be found here.

If you would like to share your thoughts on the proposals, you have until 11 October 2019 to do so. Find out more about how to do this by clicking here.