News & insight

Parental Order news & insight

The latest on UK parental orders — reform and campaigning, case law, and practical guidance for surrogacy parents.

29 Sep 2026 · parental order

The Parental Order process in 23 short videos

Twenty-three short videos that show how each part of the Parental Order process works, arranged in the order you'll need them.

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14 Sep 2026 · parental order

Do you need a solicitor for a parental order?

Almost everything written on this was written by solicitors. Here is the honest version: most straightforward applications can be made without one, a minority genuinely cannot, and this is how to tell which you are.

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14 Sep 2026 · parental order

What a parental order actually costs

The court fee is £270 — far less than most people expect. The total depends almost entirely on one decision, plus a set of small costs nobody warns you about until the invoice arrives.

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14 Sep 2026 · parental order

Parental order eligibility: the eight conditions, checked

Section 54 sets eight conditions for a parental order, and most of them are hard gates rather than matters of discretion. Here is each one in plain English, what it actually means, and the three that carry real risk.

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9 Sep 2026 · law reform

Parliament debated parental orders. Nothing is changing.

113,000 signatures got surrogacy law into Westminster Hall on 7 September 2026. The Government's answer was no legislation now. What was actually asked, what was decided, and what it means if you are applying for a parental order.

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20 Aug 2026 · international

Wrong donors, the genetic link, and your parental order

At least 30 children, most of them British, may have been conceived with the wrong donors in northern Cyprus. What that failure would mean for a parental order.

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