20 May 2025
On 10 May 2025 Louisa Ghevaert was pleased to attend the Growing Families UK and EU Surrogacy and Donor Conception Conference 2025, together with an industry professional networking event on 9 May 2025 in London. This conference brought together fertility, surrogacy agency, academic and legal experts from around the world, as well as past and present intended parents building families through fertility treatment, international surrogacy and donor conception. It shone a light on current surrogacy and donor conception laws, trends and practices. It also provided insight into current medical, legal, ethical, financial and practical aspects associated with these forms of family building.
The event started with an expert legal session looking at recent changes and developments in global surrogacy law and policy. This session recognised that surrogacy is becoming more complex and difficult around the world due to political changes, restrictive laws and policies and regulatory issues. It discussed that the USA has been the most popular foreign surrogacy destination since 2014. However, lower cost surrogacy destinations continue to emerge and evolve creating complex issues when they suddenly close, encounter political change and war, or illicit practices and scandals arise from absent or less rigorous regulation of surrogacy and assisted reproduction practices. Up to 2016, India and Thailand were popular foreign surrogacy destinations until they closed to foreign intended parents. From 2016 – 2022, Ukraine and Georgia were popular lower cost surrogacy destinations until the Russian war largely stopped surrogacy in Ukraine. From 2022 onwards, lower cost surrogacy has continued to grow in South and Central America and Africa.
This session went on to discuss that challenging issues and trends are also emerging when fertility treatment, donor conception and surrogacy are not practiced ethically and when they lack inbuilt safeguards. It highlighted that this can lead to additional difficulties with travelling surrogates, multi-jurisdictional and anonymous surrogacy arrangements (as seen in recent surrogacy case law emerging from the English Family Court). Accordingly, it is more important than ever for intended parents to undertake careful due diligence of their proposed family building through fertility treatment, donor conception and international surrogacy and seek answers to a number of questions. How well established is their proposed family building programme in their foreign destination of choice? What laws are in place in this jurisdiction? How will they exit this jurisdiction and travel home safely with their surrogate born child? What are their surrogate’s circumstances and how can they best support her? This session further highlighted the importance for intended parents to obtain expert legal help in both their foreign surrogacy destination and home country given the rapidly evolving legal landscape and the lack of global harmonisation of fertility treatment, donor conception and surrogacy around the world.
Image: Sam Everingham, Global Director of Growing Families
There followed a panel on IVF and egg donation. This included speakers Dr Melvin Thornton who is the US Medical Director at Global Fertility and Genetics in New York, Dr Rahi Victory an OBGYN, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Specialist at Victory Reproductive Care in Ontario, Canada and an egg donor recipient. Louisa subsequently had the pleasure of meeting amongst others Dr Melvin Thornton and his fertility practice manager, as well as reconnect with the international team from Cryos International (the world’s largest egg and sperm bank) and meet Allie Manterfield CEO & Surrogacy Program Director at Dreamweaver Surrogacy & Egg Donation in California, USA.
Images: Louisa Ghevaert, CEO and Founder of Louisa Ghevaert Associates, Dr Melvin H.Thornton II, Proprietor and Medical Director at Global Fertility & Genetics, Goodson Sahinkuye, Key Account Manager UK & Ireland Cryos International, Allie Manterfield, CEO & Surrogacy Program Director at Dreamweaver Surrogacy & Egg Donation
There were also further panel sessions looking at legal and ethical considerations of the family building process. Additionally, there was a panel navigating surrogacy across borders including international surrogacy experts Nino Bogverdaze a surrogacy lawyer from the Kordzadze Law Office in Tibilisi in the Republic of Georgia, assisted reproduction and surrogacy lawyer Ana Miramontes from Spain, Santiago Martinez, Managing Partner at Martinez Guardiola in Colombia and Carla Maeda, the founder of Creating Your Dreams Surrogacy from San Diego in California, USA.These sessions addressed a number of additional important questions. What should I look for when choosing a surrogacy agency? What are the typical costs involved in undergoing surrogacy in different countries? How long does a surrogacy journey typically take? How are surrogates screened? What issues can influence timelines and costs?
Images: Nino Bogverdaze a surrogacy lawyer from the Kordzadze Law Office in Tibilisi in the Republic of Georgia, Ana Miramontes from Spain, Santiago Martinez, Managing Partner at Martinez Guardiola in Colombia
There followed a session which provided personal insight from past intended parents who had successfully undertaken surrogacy journeys in the UK, US, Georgia and Canada. The final session looked at the impact of surrogacy and donor conception on families. It also provided personal insight from individuals who were born through surrogacy and recent academic research into the long-term emotional and social experiences of those impacted by surrogacy.
Image: Louisa Ghevaert, CEO and Founder of Louisa Ghevaert Associates
International Surrogacy & Donor Conception Law
Overall, rapid developments in global politics, policies and practices make it critical for intended parents to proactively manage the associated legal issues. Prospective parents must be vigilant about the risks and ensure they have a viable legal and practical action plan before embarking upon an international surrogacy journey, donor conception and fertility treatment.
Need an international surrogacy lawyer? We provide a range of specialist legal strategies and solutions to assist with the management of family building using assisted reproduction technologies, surrogacy, donor conception, as well as legal parentage, parental responsibility, birth certificates and the upbringing of surrogate born children. If you are considering, or are part way through, a surrogacy arrangement in the UK or internationally and you would like to discuss your situation or you require specialist fertility, surrogacy and family law assistance please contact Louisa Ghevaert by email louisa@louisaghevaertassociates.co.uk or by telephone+44 (0)20 7965 8399.
Images: Louisa Ghevaert CEO & Founder Louisa Ghevaert Associates
To find out more about Louisa Ghevaert click here.
