Below you can read a number of legal aspects that may be important when planning to start a family.
The content provided below is purely informational and has been compiled based on internet-based public content. As such, it should not be considered a source for legal advice and it is advisable to consult with a UK family law specialist if you are considering becoming a parent through one of these alternative methods.
Difference donorship and co-parenting
First of all, it is important to realize that in legal terms there is an essential difference between donorship and co-parenting.
Co-parenting / Partial parenting / Co-parentship
A co-parent is someone who shares the upbringing of a child to a small or large degree with another co-parent. When you meet a co-parent via Future Family, you can choose to fulfill your wish for children together, in which case you are also the biological parents. So planned co-parenting can start before the birth of your child and even before a pregnancy.
Are you a same-sex couple a couple meeting connecting to a single? Then you agree together which of you will become the biological father and which woman will bear the child and will be the biological mother.
Spermdonor
A donor has no ‘legal’ role. A ‘spermdonor’ is a man who donates his seed/sperm, and therefor makes it available to a recipient for self-insemination or artificial insemination. There is a difference between a donor and a ‘procreator’. The procreator is the man who conceived the child through sexual intercourse with a woman. There is no sexual intercourse with a spermdonor. The donor only donates and therefore has no role in the actual conception. A donor has no legal obligations or rights in regard to the future child.
United Kingdom legal matters for alternative families
The United Kingdom is probably one of the most progressive countries in the world regarding donor conception, conscious co-parenting and same-sex parenthood rights.
Donor conception is regulated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (HFEA) of 2008, which grants equal access rights to artificial reproduction methods to everyone, regardless of their marital status or sexual orientation. Same-sex couples may become legal parents through donor conception, surrogacy or adoption.
Now, if a child can have two mums or two dads, having a third legal parent is still not possible in the UK. Co-parenting situations where three or more parents are involved can be partially recognised by obtaining parental responsibility for the partner(s) of the legal parent(s). The laws are very specific when it comes to parenthood and must be carefully reviewed before going into a co-parenting agreement (see our Co-parenting section).
Legal parents
A child cannot have more than two legal parents in the UK. Yet limited parental rights can be granted to other people involved in the child´s upbringing. A man and a woman who are not involved in a relationship may decide to have a child together and in a co-parenting configuration involving both their partners, or the partner of only one of them. From the beginning, all intended parents involved should decide who will be named on the birth certificate as legal parents (options are limited by the law though) and who will have to apply for parental responsibility.
The law defining who the legal parents are in the case of an intended co-parenting arrangement can be tricky, as they depend on the marital status of the mother as well as on the manner in which the child was conceived. Therefore, it is always advisable to establish a co-parenting agreement between the parties, which, although not considered as a binding contract by the law, may help solve possible future issues.
For more detailed information and advice on co-parenting, you may want to consult these two pages:
Donor conception in the UK
Yet some women find getting pregnant to be their best option, either because of the high costs or the long delays experienced when trying to get treatment at a licensed clinic or because they want to avoid repeated invasive medical procedures. In this case, the determination of parental rights does not fall under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act and the sperm donor counts as the father. If he and the mother agree, he may relinquish his rights as a father so that the mother´s partner can adopt the child. Or he may want to remain the legal father and play a significant role in the child´s up-bringing. Issues may arise in cases where the sperm donor and the mother disagree. In this case, the donor is legally considered to be the biological father, and resulting parental responsibility will apply, such as child visitation rights or child financial support duties, among others. Contacting an alternative family law specialist is the best way to enquire about one’s own parental rights before going into a private donor agreement via self-insemination.
Donors on Future Family
Via Future Family you will only find non-anonymous donors. These donors are therefore known to the mother and (later) the child. Conversely, the mother is also known to the donor via One Wish and the donor can therefore choose to whom he donates. Please note that different rules and registration forms may apply in foreign clinics.
Parenting plan, co-parenting agreement or donor contract
This is an agreement between the donor and mother or co-parents plus any partners. The intention and mutual agreements are described in this document. The agreement serves as a guide to make such arrangements. In the event of any subsequent disagreements, the agreement clearly reflects the initial situation. However, many agreements that are usually made in an agreement are legally considered null and void.
Some examples of legal cases involving disputes over parental rights and responsibilities can be found on the Natalie Gamble Associates website.
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→ Read Questions & Answers about the concepts of co-parenting, donorship, prospective parent and biological parenting
→ Natalie Gable Associates.
The UK’s first specialist fertility law team, has leading expertise and unrivalled experience in assisted reproduction and family law disputes involving modern families.