Surrogacy law reform shelved – a disappointing setback for modern families

As a family law and divorce lawyer specialising in surrogacy, I had hoped that 2025 would be the year we finally saw meaningful reform to the UK’s outdated surrogacy laws. Sadly, but perhaps not surprisingly, the government has recently confirmed it will not be taking forward the Law Commission’s proposed bill for surrogacy reform – at least not for the foreseeable future.

This decision, communicated in a letter from Minister Baroness Merron to the Law Commission, states that other key priorities have taken precedence over surrogacy reform. This is despite what appeared to be promising momentum late last year, when the Department of Health and Social Care confirmed that Baroness Merron had met with the Law Commission in November 2024 to discuss their comprehensive report and draft legislation.

The Law Commission’s 2023 report, Building Families through Surrogacy: A New Law, was the culmination of over four decades of evolving thought, legal analysis, and public consultation. It offered a thoughtful, balanced, and forward-thinking framework that would have brought UK surrogacy law into the 21st century. Among its key proposals was a new legal pathway allowing intended parents to become legal parents from birth – an essential change that would have spared families months of legal limbo.

Judges, too, have repeatedly highlighted the inadequacies of the current legal framework in recent surrogacy cases. The existing legislation—primarily the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985 and parts of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008—simply does not reflect the reality of modern families. It forces intended parents to navigate a complex, emotionally taxing, and often delayed legal process to gain parental rights over their own children.

Surrogacy is an increasingly common route to parenthood for couples and individuals who cannot conceive, including same-sex couples. Yet these families are still being asked to operate within a legal system that predates the internet.

The Law Commission’s proposals would have simplified the process, introduced vital safeguards, and provided clarity for all parties involved – surrogates, intended parents, and most importantly, the children born through surrogacy. Instead, these well-crafted recommendations now risk gathering dust on a shelf.

This announcement follows the recent decision that the government will not ban people from travelling abroad to pursue surrogacy. While this may seem like a nod to reproductive freedom, it also raises serious ethical concerns. Without robust domestic legislation, more families may feel compelled to seek surrogacy abroad, increasing the risk of exploitation of vulnerable women in less regulated countries.

We urgently need a modern, compassionate, and practical approach to surrogacy—one that protects everyone involved and reflects the diverse ways families are formed today.

For now, we continue to support our clients through an outdated system, and to hope that the government will soon start to prioritise the rights and realities of modern families.