UK Parliamentary office calls for submissions on surrogacy

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology has announced plans to publish a POSTnote and called for submissions on surrogacy law in the UK and internationally.

The current UK surrogacy laws, largely based on legislation from the 1980s, have been the subject of widespread debate and calls for reform in recent years. In 2023, the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission proposed a new pathway to surrogacy, which included plans to streamline the legal parenthood process for intended parents (see BioNews 1185). While there is a lot of support for reform, earlier this year the UK Government shelved plans to progress with legislative change (see BioNews 1289). However, the Parliamentary Office's decision to produce a POSTnote – a short briefing document intended to inform MPs of scientific and technological developments relevant to policy and legislation – on the issue might put reform back on the Government's agenda.

The Parliamentary Office said that the POSTnote will describe current surrogacy practice in the UK, and suggestions for ‘reform’. It goes on to say that...