Today’s Guardian has reported comments made by High Court judge Mrs Justice Theis at a conference last week about her concerns for children born through international surrogacy whose parents have not applied to properly resolve their legal status in the UK. Describing the situation as a ‘ticking legal timebomb’, she talked about the future problems children may experience around inheritance, status, nationality and even medical care.
She also commented on the need for law reform, something we fully support. Natalie was also interviewed for the piece and was pleased to highlight some of the real practical difficulties that arise for parents through international surrogacy:
Natalie Gamble, a solicitor who specialises in fertility and family cases, represented the first family in a parental order case in 2008. One common problem, she said, was the delay that parents face returning to the UK with their new baby. “We had one case where parents were stuck in India for 10 months before they could get back home,” she recalled. “The father couldn’t see his new son because his passport had been taken.”
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