Rights to Maternity Leave Granted to Parents Through Surrogacy
By Sarah Guy,
BioNews
| 11. 26. 2012
The right to maternity leave in the UK will be extended to parents of children born through surrogacy, under proposed changes to rules on parental leave recently announced by the Government.
From 2015, when the changes are expected to come into force, surrogate parents will be eligible for statutory adoption pay and leave – and the new 'flexible' parental leave – so long as they meet the qualifying conditions, said the Government.
In its response to a consultation on modern workplaces, run by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills last year, the Government outlined its commitment to introducing flexible parental leave. Speaking on the matter, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said 'the problem comes down to a whole range of clapped-out rules and arrangements'.
Read more...
Related Articles
By Paula Siverino Bavio, BioNews | 03.16.2026
State flag of Peru via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by SA 2.0
A recent surrogacy case in Peru had a good outcome for one family, but does not provide wider certainty for families, surrogates or clinicians, writes Dr Paula...
By Antonia O'Flaherty, ABC News Australia | 03.04.2026
Fertility giant Monash IVF has agreed to pay financial settlements to families involved in two major bungles that saw two women transferred the wrong embryo.
In February 2025 the company became aware that one of its Brisbane clinic's patients had...
By Dr. Marcin Śmietana, Progress Educational Trust (PET) | 03.02.2026
When a family created through surrogacy abroad returns to their home country after the birth of the child, the genetic parent(s) are usually recognised as legal parents by default. However, any parent without a genetic link to the child needs...
By Tania Fabo, Truthout | 02.28.2026
The reproductive tech company Orchid recently launched a genetic test that promises a whole genome sequencing report for embryos. It is the first such test commercially available to couples undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and claims to detect things like...
.jpg){kind=link}