Professor Rob George KC in L Re (Section 83 ACA and Surrogacy) [2026] EWFC 181
9th Jul 2026 | Cases
Professor George KC, instructed by Dawson Cornwell, appeared for the applicants in L Re (Section 83 ACA and Surrogacy) [2026] EWFC 181; the court considered the novel question of whether section 83 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 applied where one intended parent had obtained a foreign step-parent adoption order as part of an international surrogacy arrangement.
This judgment concerned an application for a parental order following an international surrogacy arrangement in Minnesota, USA, where the applicants were already recognised as the child’s legal parents under local law. Before making the order, the court considered the novel issue of whether section 83 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, which restricts the bringing of adopted children into the UK, applied where one intended parent had acquired legal parenthood through a foreign step-parent adoption process.
Granting the application, the court held that section 83 did not apply in these circumstances. Adopting the purposive approach in B v B, the judge concluded that Parliament had intended the provision to prevent exploitative international adoptions rather than legitimate overseas surrogacy arrangements. The court further found that all the statutory requirements for a parental order under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 were satisfied and that the child’s lifelong welfare was overwhelmingly served by recognising the applicants as her legal parents.
