News
We can support transgender people and protect women’s rights – Article published in Each Other human rights publication
Natalie took part in a 45 minute discussion on Woman's Hour this week about reform of the Gender Recognition Act. As leading LGBT+ family lawyers, we support a process of self-identification for transgender and non-binary people amending their birth certificates. We...
NGA on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour campaigning for transgender law reform
Natalie took part in a 45 minute discussion on Woman's Hour this week about reform of the Gender Recognition Act. As leading LGBT+ family lawyers, we support a process of self-identification for transgender and non-binary people amending their birth certificates. We...
NGA speaks at British HIV Association national conference
Natalie was delighted to speak to the British HIV Association's national conference in London. She shared the unique challenges faced by HIV+ parents who need to conceive through fertility treatment, and particularly those who need the help of a surrogate. Currently...
Single parent surrogacy reform goes back to Parliament
The draft remedial order which will change the law to allow single parents through surrogacy to apply for parental orders has gone back to Parliament for a second time. When will the law change? It will now be considered by the Parliamentary Committee for its second...
Marking 15 years of the Hague Adoption Convention in the UK
On 1 June 2003, the Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (1993 Hague Convention) came into force in the UK. The purpose of the Convention is to regulate cross-border adoption. Signatory countries must have...
Should transgender parents be free to choose how they are recorded on their children’s birth certificates? The UK High Court is asked to decide
A transgender man who has given birth in the UK, has taken an important case to challenge UK law, arguing that the requirement for him to register as his baby’s ‘mother’ on the birth certificate is incompatible with his Article 8 human right to respect for private and...
First ever UK government guidance on surrogacy – Article published in Family Law
We were asked to write an article for Family Law updating UK family lawyers about the new government guidance for surrogacy which has been published by the Depatment of Health. NGA Law and Brilliant Beginnings were delighted to help write the first ever official...
Surrogacy in the USA – a chance to meet leading experts at the Shard in London
At Brilliant Beginnings and NGA Law we meet intended parents every day whose decision is not whether to pursue surrogacy, but how. Surrogacy in the UK is possible, but for many there are too many legal uncertainties, and they may need to wait longer than they would...
Domicile – what does it mean and why is it important if you are having a baby through surrogacy?
A parental order is the UK legal solution for surrogacy; it is a post-birth court order which makes the intended parents the legal parents of their child and permanently extinguishes the status of the surrogate and her spouse. Parents through surrogacy who want to be...
Travelling home with your baby after surrogacy abroad – the options
Your most pressing concern if you have a baby born through international surrogacy may be how quickly you can get home after he or she is born. This is often the first question we get asked when advising parents planning overseas surrogacy. U.K. immigration law in...
How do I apply for step-parent adoption in the UK?
Step-parent adoption is a way of consolidating an existing relationship with a child and putting it onto a secure legal footing. There are various situations in which a step-parent or partner adoption might be appropriate, including if you are raising your partner’s...
Celebrating 3 years of shared adoption leave and pay for new parents through surrogacy
Since 5 April 2015, UK parents to children born through surrogacy have been entitled to adoption leave and pay. We were thrilled to see the law change in 2015, having campaigned for more than seven years before this for reform (with Natalie writing letters to the...
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