Overview

• Cafcass freedom-of-information data reveal 1,991 parental order applications from 2020 to 2024, with a growing share from applicants aged 60 and above and fewer than six per year from over-80s.
• UK surrogacy law sets no upper age limit for intended parents, enabling individuals in their eighties to obtain legal parenthood for children born via overseas arrangements.
• A High Court ruling in March authorised a parental order for a 72-year-old couple whose child was born through surrogacy in California, raising questions about long-term welfare.
• Surrogacy UK and other advocates argue that welfare checks must shift to the pre-conception stage to ensure child interests are assessed before any arrangement proceeds.
• Campaigners including Helen Gibson and Stop Surrogacy Now UK are urging ministers to give courts authority to refuse parental order applications by older intended parents and tighten foreign surrogacy regulations.