The decision of the High Court in the leading NGA case of Re A, B and C (2016) has been reported in today’s Daily Telegraph. The case involved a gay couple who engaged in three different surrogacy arrangements via a UK surrogacy Facebook group, and misled the family court about the amounts they had paid the women who carried their children. Seeking legal representation from us only after this was uncovered and the case had been transferred to the High Court, we helped steer them through to the grant of parental orders by Ms Justice Russell.
The Telegraph has reported the judgment, saying:
“Condemning the online “surrogacy market”, Ms Justice Russell said there was “no going rate” for babies. Taking on three tiny infants so close in age cast doubt on if the couple had really thought about the children and the responsibilities of “building a family”, she added. But, after focusing on the children’s welfare, the judge went on to rule that it was in their best interests to recognise the couple as their legal parents.
The judge said the couple were guilty of a “dishonest” and “reprehensible” bid to cover up the sums they paid to the surrogate mothers. She pointed out that UK law does not allow babies to be bought and sold and surrogate mothers can only be paid “reasonable expenses”. However, the judge was swayed by the evidence of the children’s court-appointed guardian, who praised the couple’s “excellent” parenting skills. The babies were all the biological children of one or other of the men and they took “enormous pride and joy” in the youngsters. The guardian described them as “completely attentive fathers” and said: “It seems like it is what these gentlemen were put on this earth to do”.
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