Surrogacy in England

This week I explored surrogacy in England. I am travelling on a Churchill Fellowship between March and May 2025, to research best practice surrogacy to inform law reform in Australia.

I met with surrogacy lawyers, advocates, researchers, the UK Law Commissioner and professional service providers. I joined surrogacy lawyers for drinks on a boat on the Thames, spent a day in beautiful, sunny Canterbury and shared many deeply engaging and inspiring conversations with passionate colleagues.

My family joined me for the England part of my world-tour, and we visited the Churchill War Rooms, spent a day at the Brick Lane markets, and saw the Lion King production in the west end which was a highlight!

My first meeting was in beautiful Canterbury with Professor Kirsty Horsey, law lecturer and surrogacy researcher at the University of Kent. Kirsty has recently co-authored a book, Future Directions in Surrogacy Law, and she kindly gifted me a copy.

At the British Library, I met Sarah Jones of SurrogacyUK and spent a nourishing few hours comparing notes on our own surrogacy journeys and shared passion for ethical surrogacy in England and Australia. SurrogacyUK is a non-profit surrogacy service founded by surrogates in 2002 and now boasting 2000 members.

I met several talented and clever surrogacy lawyers in London, including Colin Rogerson, Andrew Spearman, Natalie Sutherland, Dr Bianca Jackson and Hilka Hollmann. The surrogacy legal profession in the UK is robust and highly skilled, and I was privileged to be able to pick their brains about surrogacy in England – legal practice, law reform, litigation and court proceedings.

The UK has recently reviewed its surrogacy laws and the Law Commission issued its final report. Law Commissioner Professor Nicholas Hopkins agreed to meet with me and discuss the process, how the Commission receives and listens to submissions and what happens now that the final report and recommendations have been published.

Unlike Australia, the UK has several service providers that assist in supporting surrogacy arrangements including SurrogacyUK, and Brilliant Beginnings which is run by surrogacy lawyer Natalie Gamble and her colleague Helen Prosser. It was great to hear about the work they’ve been doing to try and set the standard for surrogacy service providers in the UK, in lieu of any government regulation or established standards.

Finally, I met with Wes Johnson-Ellis from My Surrogacy Journey, another surrogacy service provider offering services for surrogacy in England and Mexico. Wes and his partner Mike are parents through surrogacy and now support surrogacy arrangements with their Modern Family Show and their latest venture, a fertility clinic.

These passionate and thoughtful conversations about surrogacy in England are inspiring me on my Churchill travels, and I already have many ideas for what best practice surrogacy might look like in Australia. Some initial thoughts include:

1. Streamlining the post-birth parentage order process to remove the need for costly court proceedings.
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2. Allowing for the transfer of parentage to the intended parents without requiring the surrogate’s consent. A child’s best interests should never be second to the consent of any adults, parents or otherwise.
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3. Recognising international surrogacy and parentage instruments, for children born via surrogacy outside of Australia, without the need for costly legal proceedings.
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4. Regulating surrogacy service providers in Australia, to ensure qualified and expert support for surrogacy screening and matching and throughout conception, pregnancy, birth and and postnatal periods for everyone involved.
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5. Education and awareness-raising by government and regulated surrogacy bodies, to ensure intended parents and surrogates are provided with unbiased information about pathways to parenthood that promote the best interests of children. The UK’s HFEA website is a good starting point.
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6. Family courts should manage surrogacy and parentage proceedings, with specialised judges who understand the complexities of surrogacy, parentage and children’s matters.

My mind is buzzing with ideas and inspiration for what we can achieve in Australia. The current Australia-wide review is a real opportunity to re-think surrogacy in Australia.

My family and I are taking a holiday before I continue my journey on to Canada, and they return to Australia as school holidays end.

Read more about my vision for Australian surrogacy reform.

If you are new to surrogacy, you can read about how to find a surrogate, or how to become a surrogate in Australia. You can also download the free Surrogacy Handbook which explains the processes and options.

Sarah has published a book, More Than Just a Baby: A Guide to Surrogacy for Intended Parents and Surrogates, the only guide to surrogacy in Australia.

I’ll be back in the office in late May, and my Churchill report will be published later in the latter half of 2025.