Surrogacy applications nearly double in ten years

The number of applications to become legal parents of children born to surrogate mothers has almost doubled in ten years.

According to Ministry of Justice data obtained by freedom of information requests, surrogacy applications soared by 90 per cent from 399 in 2016 to 758 in the year leading up to March 2026.

Of the 5,763 Parental Order applications submitted over the period, 86 per cent have been granted.

‘Cruel and unethical’

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Surrogacy Concern founder Helen Gibson warned: “The vast majority of surrogate born babies in the UK are now born abroad to low-income women in commercial arrangements which would not be legal if embarked upon in the UK.

“Allowing foreign-born surrogate babies to be brought here is a human rights abuse: this is a loophole in the law which must close. Surrogate mothers are subject to legally enforceable contracts and often lose their rights to their babies in utero.”

“It must be banned, now.”Helen Gibson, Surrogacy Concern

She explained: “These high figures include single men who have been able to obtain parental orders for surrogate born children since 2019. Taking a baby off their mother at birth contradicts all best practice on the care of newborn infants. Surrogacy is exploitative, cruel and unethical. It must be banned, now.”

In the UK, commercial surrogacy is banned. However, purchasing a baby abroad and bringing the child back to the UK is permitted. Between 2014 and 2023, more than half of intended parents using surrogacy travelled abroad to acquire a child, with the US being the most common destination.

Adoption crisis

Earlier this year, a joint study by children’s charity Coram and Adoption England found that procedures such as surrogacy, IVF, and egg freezing were having a detrimental effect on adopter recruitment.

Researchers revealed that the gap between the number of children in need of adoption and approved adopters increased by 52 per cent over the past five years. Projections show that by 2030, the gulf between waiting children and prospective parents could further widen to 87 per cent.

Currently, 1,600 children in England are estimated to be waiting for an approved adopter.