Source Daily Mail
Desperate couples are spending up to £60,000 to have babies through surrogate mothers giving birth in the UK, a conference was told.
The huge sums – more than double the average full-time salary of £28,000 – come despite a ban on commercial surrogacy.
Surrogate mothers in the UK are legally allowed to receive ‘reasonable expenses’ for carrying a pregnancy and giving birth.
Courts judge what ‘reasonable expenses’ are when transferring the parenting rights from the surrogate mother to the intended parents.
But courts can, and do, allow bigger sums if it is considered in the best interests of the child.
Critics yesterday hit out at the potential cost of having a baby through a surrogate and said it shows the ‘commercialisation of reproduction’.
