THE number of British parents paying foreign surrogates to have their children is soaring, official figures reveal.
In 2011 the family courts issued 117 parental orders, which are given to some children born through a surrogate. Figures to be published this month are expected to show this rose to more than 240 last year.
The true number is higher because a child’s passport can usually be issued with the signature of only one parent, so in cases where the father is biologically related to the baby, a parental order is often not sought.
At a recent meeting with passport agency officials, a Whitehall interdepartmental group established to monitor the trend was told that in 2013 alone, 1,500 British parents had babies born through foreign surrogates.
Parents seeking surrogates are increasingly looking to eastern European countries such as Ukraine and Georgia, where women charge as little as £12,000 to carry and deliver a child.
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Surrogates in India, by contrast, usually charge around £20,000, while the cost of surrogacy in America, including agency fees and insurance, can be up to £130,000. Surrogacy is permitted in the UK but a ban on commercial agencies makes it rare.
Nicola Scott, of Natalie Gamble Associates, a law firm that specialises in surrogacy, said: “We’ve seen a number of agencies moving into the market in Georgia in the last 12 months. A year ago we were not having any inquiries about it, but now around a fifth of our clients are going there or have queries relating to Georgia or Ukraine.”
Nigel Griffiths, 47, a chartered surveyor, and his wife Caroline, 57, tried for a child for 16 years before turning to a surrogacy agency in Georgia. Their daughter Grace was born last June and they plan to have another child using the same surrogate.
“We started trying for a baby with IVF shortly after we met — when Caroline was 41 — but we were badly advised and didn’t realise that after 40 it becomes increasingly unlikely that it will work,” said Griffiths.
“Using an overseas surrogacy agency is a lot quicker and you are more certain of getting a baby at the end of it.”
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However, some observers are concerned at the ease with which couples can now have a surrogate baby overseas. Andy Elvin, former chief executive of the charity Children and Families Across Borders, said stricter rules were required.
“Surrogacy has now become as cheap or cheaper than IVF and it’s being done on a fairly industrial scale in places like Georgia,” he said. “There are far more controls in place if you adopt.”