Surrogacy

About surrogacy

Surrogacy is an arrangement where a women, the surrogate, carries and gives birth to a baby for another woman or couple.

The surrogate mother may be the child’s genetic mother, called traditional surrogacy, or she may be genetically unrelated to the child, called gestational surrogacy.

Normally she gives up all her parental rights and agrees to give the baby to the intended parents immediately upon delivery.

Who surrogacy is for

This is an option for anyone who cannot carry a baby themselves. The most common reasons for choosing surrogacy are:

a missing or abnormal uterus
multiple unexplained pregnancy miscarriages
multiple failed in vitro fertilization attempts
a health condition of the Intended Mother that would make pregnancy a health risk
same sex couples

Arranging surrogacy

If you’re thinking of using a surrogate, you should talk with your GP. They can refer you to our Assisted Reproduction Unit (ARU) who can advise you on the steps you need to take.

It's important to note that our staff cannot legally find a surrogate for you and any treatment of the surrogate, which involves replacing embryos, will take place in the UK.

If the surrogate is a Jersey resident we can provide a ‘shared care’ service where they’ll receive the scans and blood tests required before and after the embryo transfer, but they will still need to travel out of the Island for the embryo transfer, and they will be managed by the unit that holds the embryos.

The Maternity Unit here in Jersey are experienced in these arrangements and have delivered local surrogate babies.

Surrogacy agreements

Before treatment or pregnancy begins, it's important to have a surrogacy agreement in place. The agreement must be made between the surrogate and the receiving parents.

A surrogacy agreement is not legally binding, which means it can’t be enforced by a court. However, it’s important to have one in place.

A written agreement helps everyone involved agree on important details and understand what to expect. It can also be useful if something unexpected happens or if there’s a disagreement later on.

A surrogacy agreement may include the following:

how the arrangement will work
details of the surrogate, the receiving parent or parents, and their families
the intentions of the surrogate to give the child to the receiving parents
pre-conception arrangements and details of fertility treatment
pregnancy arrangements, including health and wellbeing, who will attend appointments, and contact with the receiving parent or parents during the pregnancy
birth and post-birth arrangements
unplanned events, such as miscarriage, medical issues, or breakdown of relationships, and how these situations might be managed
arrangements for the care of the child with the receiving parent or parents after birth
communication and future relationships
legal support and Parental Order applications
financial details, such as reasonable expenses and costs associated with the pregnancy and how these will be paid, and
whether there will be future contact with the surrogate and if the child will be told about the surrogate

Costs

Surrogacy is not eligible for funding. You'll need to pay for it yourself. It’s important that the receiving parent or parents plan for the high costs associated with surrogacy.

In Jersey only altruistic surrogacy is allowed. This means a surrogate can only be paid for reasonable expenses, such as medical costs, travel for fertility treatment or costs related to the pregnancy.

You can’t pay the surrogate for carrying the baby or handing the baby over. The surrogate should not benefit financially from the arrangement.

Having clear and fair arrangements helps protect everyone involved.

Jersey Laws relating to surrogacy are different to the UK and legal advice from UK surrogacy agencies may not apply.

Find more information about surrogacy, agreements, legalities and processes on our Changes to the law around Children and their Civil Status page.

Jersey Surrogacy Guidance.pdf