DNA test for surrogacy overseas, does it need to be done in UK?

[donb123]

According the surrogacy guidelines in the gov.uk website the DNA testing of the child need to be done by an accredited agency. The list of all accredited agencies in the government website are based in the UK.

www.gov.uk/get-dna-test

How does this work in practice as the baby would be overseas after the birth? The DNA test is required for the passport application which should be done before bringing the baby to UK. Is there a process / partner firm in the foreign country that we should be working with? Should the biological material be mailed to UK?

I could not find a lot of details on this subject online. Any guidance will be appreciated.

Go for a UK company- otherwise it may not be acceptable if requested as part of the MN1 registration/ passport office/ parental order pathway.
Register with the company beforehand in the UK- we used Alphabiolabs who were okay. There are a number of others (the list is being updated this month).
DNA testing needs at least one parent DNA sample (usually the father- more important for British citizenship in gestational surrogacy, for complex citizenship reasons) and the baby’s, to be done in verified circumstances.
You can get yours done in the UK beforehand (cheek swabs), though this can be done abroad. The company couriers the collection kit to your overseas clinic/ doctor (not to you- you are not able to handle the kit at all). In the hospital, a doctor or nurse will take the DNA sample from baby (again cheek swab) and yours too if you have’t done already. It gets couriered back to the uk (the company organises this) and a few days later you get an email back with the results...
Hope that helps!