Dear Editor of the Times
We are writing in response to your article ‘Loophole allows Britons to ‘buy babies’ abroad, campaigners warn’ by Sanchez Manning, published on Sunday 30 March 2025.
As the founders of the law firm which has represented many of the families in the international surrogacy cases described, we would like to clarify that surrogacy is never an easy path nor one taken lightly. Parents through surrogacy often have histories of repeated baby loss, cancer survival or gruelling years of unsuccessful fertility treatment before turning to surrogacy. Others are single or in same-sex relationships and have thought about becoming parents for many years. They take the responsibility of engaging in surrogacy in a legal and ethical way very seriously.
The examples mentioned of exploitative overseas surrogacy arrangements are absolutely to be condemned, but they are by no means the norm. The legal process parents have to go through after their child is born is also hardly a ‘loophole’. High Court judges scrutinise each and every surrogacy case with rigour, awarding parenthood only after having ensured the surrogate freely consents, considered whether there has been any illegality or exploitation and carefully assessed what is in the child’s best interests. Happily, the overwhelming majority of cases are straightforward, involving a strong enduring relationship between all the adults involved and much-loved children who are obviously thriving.
Natalie Gamble and Helen Prosser, founders of NGA Law
19 Glasshouse Studios,
The UK’s leading fertility lawyers
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