CYP Now - Court Report: Application for a parental order after international surrogacy

The High Court ruled that a man who, with his male husband, had a child via a surrogate mother in the United States, could not be declared the legal parent of the toddler after the marriage had broken down.

Y v Z & Ors [2017] EWFC 60

The girl was born to an American surrogate mother in Missouri in September 2014 and had become the subject of litigation in London and the United States. Now three, she lives with her biological father in New York. His ex-husband in London sought a legal declaration that he was the girl's other parent. The judge refused to make that order because the man had not proved that he had a permanent home in the legal jurisdiction of England or Wales. Also the girl's genetic father had lived in the US for several years and had no meaningful ties to the UK. The current legal position for the girl as a matter of English law is that neither man has parental responsibility - or any legal status in relation to the girl. In accordance with section 33 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, under English law the girl's biological mother is and will remain her legal parent, unless orders are made extinguishing that status.

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