Unfortunately not! Although it is legal in this country to advertise yourself as an Egg Donor, it is illegal to do so as a Surrogate. The Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985 expressly forbids advertising for a Surrogate or to be a Surrogate. Although this law does not extend to websites based abroad, it is not something that Surrogacy UK would recommend as it is still possible to break the laws surrounding surrogacy if you are based within the United Kingdom. The best thing you can do is become a Gold Member of Surrogacy UK and we can help you meet others with an interest in surrogacy.

At this moment in time only couples that are married can take part in a surrogacy. This law is being reviewed at the moment but a Civil ceremony is not a marriage so is not possible. For more information surrounding this please see this link

In this country no contract or agreement is legally binding. However, it is important to draw up an Agreement between all parties, clarifying your feelings on the difficult questions such as selective reduction and expenses. Some feel that involving a third party in this process is beneficial and if you are not a member of Surrogacy UK and decide to use a solicitor we have a list of those experienced in surrogacy on our legal page.

We want to try gestational surrogacy, how much will this cost?

Each clinic has different set fees but the cost of a cycle with a surrogate will be slightly more than that of a straight IVF cycle as both Intended Mother and Surrogate Mother will need to be treated. A rough estimate of this would be £3,000 per cycle. Most clinics also insist on all parties having at least one session of counselling. The charge for this is approx £200. Then the Surrogate Mother's expenses are on top of this.

There is no set amount of expenses for a Surrogate. Each case is different as each Surrogate Mother has different expenses. Than can vary from £7,000-£15,000. The expenses must be justified to the courts and they will ask for proof if the expenses are too high. These expenses are to cover everything that a Surrogate Mother would have to pay for while she is pregnant with your baby. These include maternity clothing, vitamins, travel, time off work, take aways, childcare, cleaner etc.

Some people prefer to use a clinic for Intra Uterine Inseminations (IUI) and there may be clinical reasons for this but it more usual for inseminations to be carried out in the home of either the Surrogate Mother or Intended Parents. Surrogacy UK sells insemination kits to both members and non members.

Unfortunately the answer to this is no. Legally in the UK you can only carry out a Surrogacy Arrangement if you can apply for a Parental Order. For more information on Parental Orders press on this Link.

Surrogacy UK doesn't have an age limit as such. We take every case on its own merits. If a couple are over 45 we will tell them that their chances of finding a Surrogate Mother are going to be slimmer than of a younger couple. However, after informing a couple of this if they still wish to join we wouldn't turn them down because of their age.

Please see our legalities page.

Surrogacy is being suggested more and more as a valid treatment by GP's and fertility clinics. Whilst this is good news it does unfortunately mean there will never be enough surrogate mothers in this country for all those that would like one. It is estimated that at any one time in this country there are about 7-10 surrogates available.

We take every situation on its own merits. Ideally a Surrogate Mother would have completed her own family. If doing Host Surrogacy she would have to comply with the rules of the clinic they are using. Clinics' rules vary as they take a lot of elements into consideration, such as health issues, age, weight etc. If carrying out a Straight Surrogacy Arrangement, the Surrogate should ideally be under 35 years of age, since the chance of Downs Syndrome is higher after this age. However, this is not essential. In fact, we have many ladies up to the age of 40 being Straight Surrogates. What matters most is that the Surrogate Mother and the Intended Parents are completely honest with each another.

This is possible and has been done. Treatment could be conducted either in the UK or abroad. However, you would need to come to the UK for the birth in order for the intended parents to apply for a Parental Order. If the baby was born overseas it would make things very complicated and the couple would have to adopt the child and this could prove to be a very complicated and expensive process.
If you have children and family commitments, it may be very difficult to either leave them behind or to bring them over to the UK to live with you while you are awaiting the birth. This type of surrogacy arrangement can be very complicated and costly and most people who undergo such an arrangement are usually family members, ie a sister to sister surrogacy arrangement.

This is legally can only happen in the UK if you were to become Domicile within the UK. Surrogacy UK cannot help in an overseas surrogacy arrangement. The law regarding surrogacy/adoption varies from country to country. We advise anyone contemplating such an arrangement to ensure that the intended parents contact a lawyer BEFORE treatment commences.

We would always recommend all parties have a police check, ask for details at your local station. If you are doing straight surrogacy it is also strongly recommended that everyone has STD (STI) tests performed. To include :

Intended Fathers that will be doing Straight Surrogacy must have a full sperm test which includes a MAR test.

There are other relevant tests depending on you nationality/religion and your local GP or clinic will be able to advise you.