What is the legal context for surrogacy in the UK, at a high level?
Status as of [date], reviewed by counsel.
This page is for intended parents who live in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland and are considering gestational surrogacy in the United States. It explains how a Private Label Surrogacy (PLS) journey works from the UK. It is not legal advice about UK law. Every statement here about UK law, parental orders or immigration is a high-level summary, and a UK fertility solicitor advises you on your own case.
The UK permits only altruistic surrogacy, and surrogacy agreements are unenforceable there. After a US birth, UK law still treats the surrogate as the child's legal mother until the family court grants a parental order, which transfers legal parentage to the intended parents. Applications are normally made within 6 months of the birth, and the court reviews the payments made to the surrogate abroad. The parental order rules are in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, sections 54 and 54A.
That last point shapes how a UK family should run a US journey: every payment should be documented, explained and traceable from the first day. Before you sign with PLS, meet a UK fertility solicitor. Ask:
- What will the court want to see about the surrogate's compensation and expenses?
- Which US documents will you need, and do they need an apostille or certified copies?
- Does it matter which of us is the genetic parent, or whether donor gametes are used?
- How should the baby enter the UK, and what paperwork should we carry?
- When should we file the parental order application after we return, and how long does it take?
- Does anything in the US agreement need to be written with the parental order in mind?
Share the answers with Jan Telman Berman, PLS's Global Surrogacy Coordinator. PLS coordinates with UK fertility solicitors and provides the US documents the court requires.
Why do UK parents choose the United States?
Because a US state can enforce the agreement and settle parentage before the birth, and because a well-documented US journey gives the UK court what it needs.
In Illinois, the Gestational Surrogacy Act, in force since 2005, makes a compensated gestational surrogacy agreement enforceable when its requirements are met, and the intended parents are the legal parents at birth under Illinois law. PLS places surrogates in surrogacy-friendly US states, and each journey follows the law of the state where the surrogate lives and delivers.
What a PLS journey adds:
- Nurse-led matching. Nancy Block, RN, founded PLS in 2017 after 17 years as an OB/GYN and fertility nurse and staff educator at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She has made more than 2,500 matches in her career and runs PLS matching personally. She is a former President of SEEDS, the Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy.
- Physician review. Mark Silverberg, DDS, MD, reads every surrogate candidate's prenatal and delivery records and writes a physician medical summary for your clinic.
- Independent professionals. PLS does not employ attorneys, psychologists or escrow agents, and does not take referral fees from them.
- Documented payments. Every payment to the surrogate is made by an independent escrow agent on a written schedule, which matters for the parental order.
Plan on 18 to 24 months from signing to birth, and $150,000 to $200,000 in total, paid in US dollars.
What is a parental order and when do you apply?
A parental order is a UK family court order that transfers legal parentage from the surrogate to the intended parents. Applications are normally made within 6 months of the birth. UK law was changed to allow single applicants as well as couples.
Treat the 6 months as a deadline you plan for, not a window you discover after the birth. The steps on the US side all happen before you fly home, so PLS works backward from your expected return date.
| Step | What it is | Typical timing | PLS document or support |
|---|---|---|---|
| US parentage order | Parentage established under US state law, before birth where the state allows it | Second trimester | Timeline coordinated with both US attorneys |
| Birth certificate | Birth record issued by the state of birth | After the birth | Hospital birth plan naming the intended parents |
| Apostille | Certification of US documents for use in the UK | After the birth certificate | Document checklist from your solicitor |
| US passport | The child's US passport, subject to the August 6, 2026 executive order now under litigation | Before departure | Document checklist |
| Entry to the UK | Entry on the route your solicitor advises, depending on the genetic link and your status | Departure | Copies of US documents for travel |
| Parental order application | Application to the UK family court, normally within 6 months of birth | After return | Escrow ledger and the agreement's compensation schedule |
What does the UK court want to see about payments to the surrogate?
The court reviews payments made to the surrogate abroad as part of the parental order application. Your solicitor explains what the court looks for. What PLS can do is make sure every payment is easy to show.
Here is how the money is documented in a PLS journey:
- A written compensation package. The surrogate's base compensation, monthly allowance, milestone payments and expense reimbursements are set out in the gestational carrier agreement, negotiated by your attorney and hers.
- One payer. An independent licensed escrow agent makes every payment to the surrogate. PLS never handles that money.
- A full ledger. The escrow agent issues a disbursement ledger showing every payment, date and purpose. Solicitors use this ledger in parental order applications; confirm that escrow agents provide it in the format UK solicitors need.
- No side payments. All payments run through escrow under the agreement. If a question about an expense comes up, it goes through the attorneys and escrow, so the record stays complete.
How does the baby enter the UK: US passport, UK passport or visa
Entry routes depend on the genetic link and the parents' status. Many families enter the UK on the child's US passport with the right paperwork, and UK counsel advises before you fly.
A federal executive order dated August 6, 2026, on citizenship for children born through compensated surrogacy to two non-citizen parents is under litigation. It may affect whether a child born to two UK citizen parents receives a US passport. Read citizenship and passport and leaving the US with your baby before you book flights.
What does a US journey cost in pounds, and how is money protected?
PLS quotes every figure in US dollars, because that is the currency of the agreement and the escrow account. Convert at your bank's rate on the day you plan; the pound price moves with the exchange rate.
- Total journey: typically $150,000 to $200,000.
- Escrow at match: $10,000, then the balance before medications start.
- Third-party costs: $15,300 to $29,000, paid from escrow, for both attorneys, escrow administration, the psychological evaluation, background checks, insurance review, surrogate travel and local monitoring.
- PLS program fee: paid to PLS at signing, surrogate acceptance and medical clearance. Program fee: confirm current schedule.
- Clinic fees: paid directly to your clinic.
Exchange-rate risk is yours, so many families convert in two or three tranches. You may choose your own escrow company. PLS has used independent escrow since 2017. The Surro Connections collapse in late 2025 and the SEAM escrow failure, which involved more than $16 million, show what happens when money sits with the wrong party. See currency and escrow and how escrow works.
When do you travel and how long do you stay?
Most UK families travel twice: once for embryo creation, if embryos are made at a US clinic, and once for the birth. PLS works with 14 partner fertility centers, including Kindbody, Shady Grove Fertility, Fertility Centers of Illinois and Oregon Reproductive Medicine.
For the birth, you arrive before the due date and stay until the US documents are issued and your solicitor clears you to travel. [Typical post-birth stay for UK families: confirm with Jan and counsel.]
Between trips, the journey runs remotely. Today it takes about 9 months from signing to meeting a surrogate, with a target of 6 months or fewer. Legal and medical foundations take 1 to 2 months after match, the medical cycle 2 to 3 months, and the pregnancy test comes 9 to 11 days after transfer.
How does PLS support UK families?
With named people and a document trail built for the parental order.
- Jan Telman Berman coordinates your cycle, your travel and your document checklist. Jan has managed national and international cycles for more than 18 years.
- Nancy Block, RN, runs your match.
- Natalie Gaudio-Fricano or Jenni Symons, both former surrogates, carries the pregnancy as your case manager. Natalie delivered for an international couple in 2016.
- Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, gives your surrogate at least six nutrition consults.
- Your UK fertility solicitor receives the US documents and the escrow ledger they need, on the timeline they set.
Calls are booked for hours that work in the UK, and PLS coordinates directly with your solicitor so you are not relaying documents between two countries.
Sources
- Private Label Surrogacy program terms: escrow funding schedule, timeline and cost ranges.
- Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act (2005), Illinois General Assembly. Pending review by counsel.
- Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (UK), parental order provisions. Pending review by UK counsel.
- Federal executive order of August 6, 2026, on citizenship for children born through compensated surrogacy. Under litigation; pending review by counsel.