8 November 2021
Louisa Ghevaert features in The Mail on Sunday (7 November 2021) about parents undertaking surrogacy later in life and trends in later-life parenthood. The article looks at the ages of those embarking on parenthood today and whether there are age limits for those building families through surrogacy.
The Mail on Sunday article reports that a man aged 66 and his 40-year old male partner are looking to have a baby through surrogacy and that this would make the 66-year old businessman a first-time parent at the age of retirement. The article goes on to highlight a growing trend in older parents, including celebrities who became parents later in life like Rod Stewart who had his eighth child in 2011 and Ronnie Wood who had twins in 2016.
“Louisa Ghevaert, a lawyer whose specialisms include surrogacy, said there is no age limit when it comes to courts granting an order to those who have a baby through surrogacy to make them the legal parents. There are no specific requirements in court to look at the age. There is a welfare consideration, but there is no requirement to be in a certain age parameter. In the absence of any significant other legal issue, I would be surprised if the age of the intended dad at 66 in any way precluded the grant of a parental order”. Under current legislation, intended parents do, however, have to have attained a minimum age of 18 years to be eligible for a parental order and each application is carefully scrutinised by the Court to ensure that the grant of an order is in the individual child’s best interests.
Click here to read the full article in The Mail on Sunday.
Need an expert surrogacy lawyer? If you would like to discuss your family building needs or you would like specialist fertility, surrogacy and family law advice and representation contact Louisa Ghevaert by email louisa@louisaghevaertassociates.co.uk or by telephone +44 (0)20 7965 8399.
