Key Facts
- •Application for a parental order in relation to B (19 months old).
- •Applicants X and Y (US citizens) seek legal parental relationship with B.
- •Respondent Z is the gestational surrogate.
- •Surrogacy arrangement in UK on 6 November 2020.
- •All criteria under s 54 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (HFEA 2008) are met except domicile.
- •Applicants need to establish domicile of choice in the UK in November 2021 and March 2023.
- •Applicants have lived in the UK since late February 2020, with a 12-month lease starting December 2021.
- •Applicants travelled extensively during this period.
- •Applicants were in Hawaii during the hearing.
- •B remains in applicants' full-time care.
- •Applicants' evidence for domicile includes: rented accommodation, UK companies, NHS numbers, bank accounts, social connections, and B's birth and UK passport.
- •Applicants remain registered to pay tax in the US.
- •The Children's Guardian supports the parental order.
- •Respondent Z did not attend the hearing.
Legal Principles
Criteria for parental orders under s 54 HFEA 2008.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
Welfare considerations under s 1 Adoption and Children Act 2002 are relevant only after s 54 HFEA 2008 criteria are met.
Adoption and Children Act 2002
Principles of domicile, including acquisition and abandonment of domicile of choice.
Y v Z [2017] EWFC 60, Z and B v C (Parental Order: domicile) [2012] 2 FLR 797, U v J [2017] EWHC 449 (Fam), Re G (Surrogacy: Foreign Domicile) [2008] 1 FLR 1047, Re G and M [2014] EWHC 1561 (Fam)
Burden of proof for domicile lies on the applicants; standard of proof is balance of probabilities.
Outcomes
Parental order granted in favour of applicants X and Y.
Domicile of choice established for at least one applicant at relevant times; strong welfare considerations for B.