Edward Cooke Family Law acts in complex international surrogacy case
02 July 2026
Victoria Maxwell from our modern families team appeared in PP & Anor v RR (leave to withdraw parental order application) Neutral Citation Number [2026] EWFC 172 alongside Melissa Elsworth of 1GC.
Victoria and Melissa represented the Applicant Intended Parents in a complex overseas surrogacy arrangement in Sri Lanka. An interim judgment was handed down yesterday by the Honourable Mr Justice Peel in the High Court and has been reported in the national law archives owing to the complexities of the matter.
Case background leading to surrogacy arrangement in Sri Lanka
The Applicants have had a difficult journey to parenthood thus far, after many years of fertility treatment, despite a successful pregnancy and birth they tragically lost their twins within days of their birth in 2024. They later entered into a surrogacy arrangement in Sri Lanka which to their delight resulted in the arrival of non identical twins. The two embryos were intended and understood to be created by a combination of anonymously donated eggs and the sperm of the First Applicant. The Applicants subsequently discovered that the sperm was in fact not that of the First Applicant but of a sperm donor, such that neither Applicant is biologically related to the children. Mr Justice Peel cited “The Applicants are devastated. This was not what they had planned, expected or agreed to with the relevant clinic.”
As a result they were no longer eligible to apply for a Parental Order and found themselves in a difficult legal position in terms of being recognised as the legal parents of their children. The Applicants successfully sought permission to withdraw their original parental order application which was made before the results of the DNA testing confirmed the lack of genetic link which is a crucial part of the s54 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 in terms of the court’s power to grant a Parental Order.
Mr Justice Peel granted the Applicants permission to withdraw their application for a Parental Order, granted their application for a Child Arrangements (Lives With) Order which will confer parental responsibility onto them as an interim measure and finally granted permission for the Applicants to apply for an adoption order. The proceedings are ongoing as the Applicants now need to give the local authority three months notice of their intention to adopt the children and for the usual procedural requirements to be met, after which period they may make their substantive application for an adoption order.
Applying flexible and creative legal solutions
This case brought about the need for a large degree of flexibility and legal creativity for the legal team assisting the Applicants as they sadly found themselves in an unusual scenario whereby there was no particular obvious legal framework to deal with the situation in which they found themselves. Mr Justice Peel confirmed “in my judgment, the Applicants are blameless. Neither of them is biologically related to the children, as a result of the actions of the clinic which used donor sperm rather than the sperm of PP.”
The court showed great flexibility in determining the application to find a solution which would be in the children’s best interests. Mr Justice Peel continued, “From everything I have read and heard, the Applicants are giving the children outstanding care. They are the de facto parents of these young children who need permanence and stability. Adoption would confer legal parentage and parental responsibility.”
This is the firm's third reported complex surrogacy case in as many years, led by Victoria Maxwell, signalling our cutting edge work in modern family law. To read the judgment in full, view here. For further information, please explore our surrogacy, donor conception and fertility law information. Should you require legal support, our experienced team would be happy to help, do get in touch.
