Surrogacy rights at work

Surrogacy is when someone else carries and gives birth to a baby for the intended parents.

If you use a surrogate, the surrogate will be the child’s legal parent at birth.

You must apply to become the legal parent within 6 months of the child's birth to get surrogacy rights, leave and pay.

You must apply for:

• a parental order – if one intended parent is genetically related to the child
• an adoption order – if the intended parents are not genetically related to the child

If you apply for an adoption order, the rules for adoption are different.

Find out your adoption leave, pay and other rights

You can also read more about:

• how to become the child’s legal parent on GOV.UK
• parental orders on the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service