Surrogacy

THE DIFFICULT AND CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT OF SURROGACY: LAW, PROCEDURE AND POLICY BRILLIANTLY EXPLAINED

An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers and Reviews Editor, "The Barrister"

Surrogacy: the very word engenders all kinds of comments, questions and uncertainties, making this area of family law both challenging and fascinating, particularly as the issues that often emerge in surrogacy arrangements extend across a wide range of legal and other professional disciplines.

Despite its challenges, surrogacy has become -- in the opinions expressed in this excellent and authoritative legal text -- 'a significant alternative to family planning' as, for several reasons, opportunities for adoption continue to dwindle.

Recently published by LexisNexis in the Family Law series, the book presents practitioners with a thorough, judicious, carefully researched, and clearly written examination of the law, procedure and policy relating to assisted reproduction (AR) and surrogacy. In so doing, it answers a lot of the questions that commonly arise.

What exactly is surrogacy? When and where is it legal? When and where is it not? Queries like these obviously top the list, which is a long one, especially for lawyers asked to advise clients planning to embark on a surrogacy arrangement.

Predictably, there are no simple answers, as surrogacy and/or assisted reproduction take several different forms in different circumstances. But broadly, as defined by co-author Ruth Cabeza, surrogacy involves conception with the intention that 'the woman who carries and gives birth to the child will not be the child's mother.'

Reference is made here to the ghastliness of Margaret Atwood's 1986 novel, 'The Handmaid's Tale', the horrors of which can now be avoided (or can they?) as assisted reproduction via IVF becomes increasingly common, so that surrogates can 'successfully conceive without even meeting the biological father.' The danger here is that a totalitarian state could introduce an element of compulsion into any aspect of reproduction.

In the UK, 'altruistic' and 'compensated' surrogacy is legal. Commercial surrogacy usually arranged through a profit-making organisation is not. There appears to be a fine line of demarcation between these arrangements though, of which lawyers should be aware. This intrinsic difficulty is discussed in detail in this book.

Certainly, the aim of the authors, all experts in this field, has been 'to bring together in one place, all the information that a surrogate or intended parent would need to understand before embarking on a surrogacy arrangement in the UK….' The intention here is to ensure that 'the relationship between the intended parents and the child will be recognized for the purposes of English law.' To this end, the current legal framework in the UK receives a comprehensive, thorough yet concise examination.

Writing in the Foreword, Theis J commends the book as 'a very valuable contribution to this area of law for both lawyers and those who are considering entering into these arrangements.'

Lawyers especially, will appreciate the book's humane and sensible approach, its logical structure and its research references, including the tables of cases, statutes, statutory instruments and the five appendices. As a convenient new source of information and advice on a sensitive and controversial subject, this book will prove invaluable.

The date of publication is cited as at 22nd March 2018.