Celebrities including singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, Emily in Paris star Lily Collins, supermodel Naomi Campbell, Grammy-winning singer John Legend and Olympic diver Tom Daley have all welcomed children into the world via US surrogates recently.
The swirl of publicity surrounding each celebrity baby born by surrogacy has – according to doctors, surrogate agencies and lawyers spoken to by Spear’s – spurred huge demand from British HNW couples seeking the legal safety of US-based surrogates to carry their babies and pushed up costs to record highs. It is a brave new world of ‘fertility family offices’ for private clients, where HNW couples have been known to shell out for $500 FedEx deliveries of chilled breast milk and total costs can run to $500,000.
The primary driver of increased surrogacy is continually improving IVF technology, which is allowing more people who might not have otherwise been able to have children to do so. These include couples with fertility issues, older women and gay couples.
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An increasing number of women – including a slew of famous actors – are also using the surrogacy route to avoid the ‘burden’ of pregnancy, which could interfere with their careers. Charlie’s Angels and Ally McBeal star Lucy Liu said she chose the surrogacy route because ‘I was working and I didn’t know when I was going to be able to stop’.
The UK government does not collect data on surrogacy. However, there are now about 500 parental orders – the legal mechanism transferring parenthood from a surrogate to intended parents – granted per year, according to parliamentary research papers. That’s up from 67 in 2008. In the latest full year (2024-25), there were more cross-border surrogacy applications to the courts than UK-based ones. In 2008, just one of the surrogacy applications was international.
The experts say international surrogacy is overtaking local surrogacy because UK cases can get tangled in red tape, leaving some babies in legal limbo and intended parents devastated. The laws in the US and other countries provide more legal certainty to intended parents.
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Sarah Hutchinson, a partner at London law firm Farrer & Co who specialises in family law, says that in surrogacy cases ‘the stakes could not be higher – intended parents are understandably anxious to ensure the security of their legal relationship with their child’.
It is extremely rare for babies to be taken away from intended parents, as almost all parental orders are granted. But there have been instances when judges have ruled that the intended parents have not met all the criteria set out in section 54/54A of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 and refused to make the parental order.
In one landmark case, a judge refused to grant a gay couple a parental order for their baby boy (referred to only as ‘Z’) because they had only met the British surrogate through a Facebook surrogacy group, and had not done enough due diligence to ensure the surrogate understood the full ramifications of the agreement that she signed at a fast food outlet in a motorway service station.
The judge granted the biological father and his same-sex partner contact with Z only every eight weeks for the next two years, saying: ‘This unregulated form of surrogacy means that there are on the one side vulnerable surrogates, and on the other commissioning parents who are legally unprotected from unpredictable outcomes.’
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Hutchinson says it is the fear of ending up in such difficult legal predicaments that is continuing to lead hopeful British parents to seek out surrogates in the US – particularly in California, where surrogacy legal agreements are much stronger and the relationship between intended parents and surrogates is much more business-like.
‘For those who have the means, California’s well-established regulatory environment offers considerably more certainty in relation to every stage of the process,’ Hutchinson says. ‘Among high-net-worth clients, California remains the most popular destination.’
Market prices
In the UK, any agreement drawn up between intended parents and a surrogate is not legally enforceable. In California and several other US states, surrogacy agreements are legally binding and can span to more than 100 pages covering a vast array of issues down to dictating what the surrogate can eat and drink, where and how they can travel, and even how much they can exercise.
‘In the UK, the surrogate makes all decisions regarding her own health and the pregnancy,’ says Hutchinson. ‘And when the baby is born she is the legal mother – regardless of whether there is a genetic connection between the surrogate and the child. If the surrogate is married, her husband is usually the legal father.’ Legal parentage is only transferred when a parental order is granted by a judge.
In the US, surrogates sign ‘pre-birth orders’ that name the intended parents as the legal parents of the child before birth. ‘This ensures legal recognition for the intended parent or parents from day one, allowing them to be named on the birth certificate and avoiding the risk of legal limbo,’ Hutchison says. ‘Californian law makes it clear for both surrogates and intended parents, providing a regulated, considered and contractual process.’
It is, though, very expensive. It’s difficult to do it for less than $200,000 (£150,000), and it’s often up to $500,000, experts say. The costs are rising fast as demand increases. The surrogate alone can charge $60,000, $70,000 or even in some cases $100,000.
Circle Surrogacy, one of the biggest US agencies, which has helped 3,600 families bring a young one into the world, has provided a full breakdown of the costs. It lists base compensation for surrogates at $55,000-$65,000 (though this increases considerably in complicated pregnancies or those that result in multiple births), with expenses totalling another $10,000-$15,000 (including maternity clothing, travel to the clinic, childcare, help with housekeeping at the end of pregnancy and additional life insurance). Health insurance is $15,000-$30,000; IVF or embryo implantation is up to $25,000; and legal fees are $3,000-$15,000.
Then there are counselling services, which cost about $7,000. (Most clinics require that both the intended parents and the surrogate undergo counselling, especially if the surrogate is doing it for the first time.) And finally, the $20,000–$40,000 fees charged by the agency itself.
By comparison in the UK, surrogates can only be paid ‘reasonable expenses’. In a 2016 surrogacy court case, the judge said: ‘There is no universally acceptable figure to pay for surrogacy expenses in the UK irrespective of the circumstances in law, whether it is £15,000 or more or less.’ Reasonable expenses include loss of earnings (including in some cases partner’s earnings), medical expenses or equipment, fertility treatment, specialised food and supplements, maternity clothes, new clothing after birth, travel and accommodation relating to the pregnancy, additional childcare or help around the house during pregnancy or after birth, and potentially the cost of a recuperation holiday after giving birth.
‘In England, women act as surrogates for altruistic reasons and often for close family members or trusted friends, without financial benefit,’ Hutchinson says. ‘But in the US women benefit financially, and the sums can be significant, for example funding college education or a deposit on a property.’
While the cost in California is considerably higher, the choice of surrogates and donors is broader. ‘Agencies manage the process with care and consideration for the intended parents, surrogates and donors,’ she says. ‘They help to minimise the risk of potential complications, including providing screening and support, and matching intended parents with surrogates – for example ensuring they are aligned in terms of their understanding and expectations for the process and the future.’ There are 92 fertility clinics in California, by far the most of any state.
Sam Everingham, founder of international surrogacy advice service Growing Families, says an influx of über-rich couples – from the UK, Europe, Russia and China – seeking surrogates in the US has pushed up prices massively. ‘Surrogates know that the demand is there, and they are in communication with each other so they know the market prices,’ he says. ‘They’ll know friends of friends who say they got $100,000 so that’s what they might ask for.’
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There are several Facebook groups and a Reddit forum dedicated to surrogacy, some where intended parents make posts seeking surrogates and others where surrogates discuss the merits – and fees offered – of different surrogate agencies.
One couple’s post on Reddit recently shows how specific some intended parents can be about the type of surrogate they want. Among their detailed ‘criteria’, they state that the surrogate must be 18-24, have a BMI of 18.5-27, be a non-smoker, and have no major underlying medical or psychological conditions.
Screening processes
Surrogates are generally required to have already had at least one child of their own. ‘Those who have already carried a baby as a surrogate command a higher price as they’ve done it before and know the ropes – and the pain involved,’ says Everingham, who is himself father to two daughters born via surrogacy. ‘I can think of some surrogates who have done it nine or 10 times.’
He says experienced surrogates are preferred not just because they have shown they are physically capable of delivering healthy babies, but also that they are mentally prepared and happy to hand over babies after birth. He adds that some intended parents try to ‘control every aspect of the surrogate’s life, from making them eat organic to asking them not to work or travel. We advise them to try not to be too demanding, as you can’t really control other people’s lives. But money talks, and there are agencies that bend over backwards to make everything that the intended parents want happen, if there’s enough money.’
There are estimated to be more than 300 agencies operating in the 48 US states that allow commercial surrogacy (Louisiana and Nebraska prohibit it). And it’s a competitive market, with high-end agencies boasting ‘success rates’ of more than 99 per cent.
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Growing Generations, which has been operating for nearly 30 years, claims its surrogates ‘go through an in-depth screening process and are among the top 1-2 per cent of our applicants’. It offers four programmes to ‘suit the various needs of our clients: Legacy, Legacy+, Heritage, and Heritage+’. Legacy starts at $212,000, while Heritage+ costs a minimum of $455,000. For that you get assigned an ‘executive to oversee your journey’ and two days of ‘companionship travel by one of our staff members for obstetrician/gynecological appointments, delivery, and/or court proceedings as requested’.
Beverly Hills-based IMA ART Fertility bills itself as both ‘the fertility maison for private clients’ and ‘a white-glove fertility family office’.
‘We specialise in curating bespoke fertility and surrogacy journeys – offering IVF and egg and sperm banking coordination, and legal oversight with absolute discretion,’ its chief executive and co-founder Michelle Tang says. ‘Each experience is uniquely tailored for ultra-high-net-worth individuals who expect privacy, precision and performance.’
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Tang does not disclose the cost of her services, but the agency’s base compensation for surrogates is $95,000 – considerably higher than the average. ‘Carrying a baby for nine months is hard work, and IMA ART Fertility wants our surrogates to be fairly rewarded. It’s also our goal that you have a stress-free, luxurious experience.’
Everingham, who has advised hundreds of families on surrogacy, says the contract between surrogate and the intended parents can even extend beyond the birth: ‘Some parents will ask the surrogate to continue pumping breast milk and FedEx it across the world every week so there is consistency for the baby.’ Surrogates pump breast milk (sometimes for up to 10 hours a day) and then pour it into freezer bags and place with ice in a coolbox, which is shipped as perishable by FedEx or UPS. Circle Surrogacy says it costs about $500 per shipment, which is covered by the intended parents.
Taking your pick: ‘The world needs more redheads’
As well as choosing a surrogate, parents have an increasingly large choice of egg donors. All donor eggs undergo rigorous screening for infectious diseases (including HIV, hepatitis B/C, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea) and genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis. But many egg donor agencies now allow parents to find out even more.
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‘You can select for pretty much everything now,’ Everingham says. ‘You can pick eye colour, hair colour, height, build, intelligence.’ The most popular, he says, are donors who are both smart and good-looking. ‘If you want a Harvard-educated donor who looks like a model, you can get it, but it will cost more. It can stretch to $100,000, if you’re picky.’ He says potential donors, who are often students or recent graduates looking to pay off university debts, are attracted by physical and online ads targeted at Ivy League universities.
Among the hundreds of websites offering donor eggs is Donor Nexus, which bills itself as ‘your trusted partner in fertility’. It allows intended parents to choose from ‘fresh egg donors’, ‘frozen eggs’ and ‘donated embryos’. It then allows them to whittle down donors based on age, ethnicity, height, hair colour, eye colour, profession and education.
The hopeful parents are then presented with multi-page profiles with women’s personal statements and lists of their hobbies and interests. The prospective donors have answered detailed questionnaires asking not only their medical histories, but also whether they smoke, drink alcohol, wear glasses, and even if they have ever worn braces. There are also several pages of photos, not just of the donor but also of the donor’s siblings, parents and even grandparents. Some sites even include video introductions.
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On her 14-page profile on DonorNexus.com, donor #4634, a 21-year-old from southern California whose profile photo shows a young fair-skinned redhead in a red bikini on a tropical beach, says she wants to be an egg donor because ‘I would love to help someone create a family and share a part of myself in the process. People often tell me that the world needs more redheads, and I believe that’s true! Being an egg donor feels like a meaningful way to give someone the chance to experience the joy of having a child while passing along traits that make me unique.’
San Diego-based egg donor bank Lucina promises its ‘advanced facial recognition matching service’, called ‘ReflEggction’, will find a donor whose features are most similar to photos intended parents upload to its site.
Once intended parents have picked their egg donor and their surrogate, the embryo is transferred, and so begins a nervous two-week wait before the surrogate takes a pregnancy test to see if it has been successful. Potentially as soon as 48 hours after the birth – but normally at least seven days – the baby can be flown back to the UK, where the baby and their parents go before a High Court judge to secure a parental order.
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‘It’s so cute to see the babies in court with serious judges in their wigs,’ Hutchinson says. ‘Sometimes the judge asks to hold the baby, and the parents take a photo of the baby with the judge as it legally rules it is their baby.’
In most cases, once the parental order is granted, a surrogate baby is, legally, no different from a naturally conceived baby. However, further legal complications can be thrown up for HNW families.
Colin Rogerson, a partner at Keystone Law and one of the UK’s leading surrogacy lawyers, says some older family trusts do not recognise children born via surrogates as ‘legitimate children’, and they could be excluded from being beneficiaries. ‘Lots of these trusts were set up before the first surrogacy agreement was drawn up in 1976,’ he says. ‘So either the trusts need to be rewritten or a new separate trust needs to be set up for the surrogate child.’
This issue has been thrown into the national spotlight as the 8th Marquess of Bath, Ceawlin Thynn, and his wife Emma are taking legal action to try to ensure their surrogate-born son Henry can inherit his part of the family’s £157 million fortune. The trust uses language like ‘heirs of the body’ and ‘en ventre sa mère’ (in the mother’s womb), which specifically exclude Henry from benefiting.
The marquess and his wife have taken the case to the High Court in Bristol to ask that Henry – and any of his children – be able to inherit from three long-standing family trusts connected to the Longleat estate in the same way as his naturally conceived brother John. At a preliminary hearing in February, the judge said the couple ‘consider it would be unfair and unfortunate if their second son and his issue were excluded from benefit’.
This article first appeared in Spear’s Magazine Issue 99. Click here to subscribe
