Surrogacy

[Colinjosh1]

My husband & I have offered to be a traditional surrogate for our friends in Southern Ireland. We want to do it between ourselves, how soon after giving birth can they take baby to Ireland. Obviously our male friend will be named on the birth certificate, can they adopt in Ireland or do they need to apply for all this i the uk before taking baby home??

[Proseccopanda]

Hi,

I was a host surrogate for family members last year, although they were UK citizens, so a bit different to yours and your friends situation. Firstly though, because you're married, it would actually be yours and your Husband's names that would be on the birth certificate, and you would need to give the IP's written permission to make medical decisions (i.e. newborn tests and vaccinations). This is a fairly recent thing that came in to effect in Oct 2014. Also, surrogacy is different from adoption (adoption is far more complicated and can take years!). Instead, your friends would have to apply for a parental order. This can't be done until the baby is born, but must be applied for before the baby is 6wks old, and it can take up to 6mths to complete. We literally just completed the process last week and baby is 6mths old.

I think that because you are in the UK, and the baby would therefore be registered in the UK, that the legal process would have to happen here, and your friends may even need to reside in the UK for most or all of the process, but I'd suggest that they perhaps seek legal advice on that one. I'm also not sure whether they'd be able to take baby back to Ireland until the parental order is granted, again, it's best to get legal advice. This is a good firm that specialises in UK fertility law www.nataliegambleassociates.co.uk/creating-families/surrogacy and this is also a good place to look www.brilliantbeginnings.co.uk/

I hope this helps