The number of parental order applications from older parents of children born through surrogates has increased markedly in recent years according to a freedom of information request.
Although actual numbers will not be released for fear of identification of the individuals involved, there have been parental order applications from men aged 70-79 and women aged 60-69, 70-79 and over 80. Explaining why exact numbers wouldn’t be released, Cafcass said there were less than six in each year of the five-year period.
Campaigners have raised concerns over the age of surrogate parents; and with no upper age limit, there is evidence of increasing number of older parents; the number of applications from males in their fifties in 2020 was 44, but this year the figure has risen to 95. In total, there were 1,991 applications for parental orders between 2020 and 2024.
In March 2025, 13 groups of campaigners wrote to ministers expressing their concerns around the use of foreign surrogates, which was encouraging a rise in the number of older parents. Between 2018 and 2024, more than 1,500 applications were made in England for legal parental orders for babies born to international surrogates. The highest number – 642 – came from the U.S., followed by Ukraine (258) and Georgia (144).
Describing becoming a surrogate parent in later life as ‘selfish’ Helen Gibson, founder of the campaign group Surrogacy Concern said she was ‘appalled’ by parental order applications for surrogate-born babies being made by people in their sixties, seventies and eighties, for which she felt there could be ‘no justification’.
“It is even more concerning to see that these figures are rising consistently year by year. There is no upper age limit for parental orders or pursuit of surrogacy in the UK or in the majority of countries British people are travelling to in order to have surrogate-born children.
“It is ludicrous that people can obtain parental orders for surrogate-born children decades after their natural childbearing years have ended. The government must strongly consider whether or not any of this is in the child’s interests. It must act urgently to empower the courts to block these parental order applications and ban the pursuit of surrogacy abroad by Britons.”
Sarah Jones, chief executive of Surrogacy UK, said:
“It is our belief that the recent rise in parental order applications from older intended parents is likely driven by surrogacy arrangements taking place overseas, where regulation around the age of intended parents can be far more relaxed or even nonexistent. Unfortunately, under current surrogacy law, important welfare checks only take place after the child is born, during the court process for a parental order. By that stage, the child already exists and the legal process becomes focused on remedying the situation rather than preventing poor outcomes. This is far too late.
“At Surrogacy UK, we strongly believe that the welfare of the child must be the priority from the outset. Age of the intended parents are a key part of that. We support the proposed reforms to UK surrogacy law that would move these checks to a pre-conception stage, providing a more ethical and child-centred framework for everyone involved.”
Despite these concerns there appears to be little appetite at government level for surrogacy reform after the draft bill put forward by the Law Commission in the wake of its “Building Families through Surrogacy: A New Law” report was not taken forward due to other “key priorities” according to a letter to Law Commission chair, Sir Peter Fraser, from Department of Health and Social Care minister Baroness Merron.
