Getting Started With Your Parentage Order
The purpose of an application for parentage order is to seek court orders to transfer parentage of the child from the surrogate (and surrogate’s partner) to the intended parents. Intended parents need to file their application for parentage order at court within the first month and the sixth month after your child is born. While this may seem like a long time, it is sure to fly by, especially with a newborn around. So, here are 3 things you can do right from the get go to make sure you don’t fall behind.
(1) Get Talking
Be sure to get in touch with your IVF clinic, solicitor and counsellor to tell them that your child is born and that you will be applying for a parentage order at Court. It’s also a good idea to confirm their availability over the following months so you can plan around their schedule.
(2) Get Counselling
You will need to complete 2 different types of counselling after the child is born:
- The birth mother (and birth mother’s partner) will need to attend relinquishment counselling after the child is born. You can use the same counsellor who provided you with counselling before you signed the surrogacy arrangement.
- All parties to the surrogacy arrangement (intended parents, birth mother and birth mother’s partner) need to attend independent counselling. This counsellor needs to be someone completely new from anyone that you have previously used in your surrogacy journey.
You should book your counselling sessions as soon as possible after the child is born.
(3) Get Registered
While the intended parents name the child, generally, it is the Birth Mother who registers the birth, so remind your birth mother to do this. You cannot apply for a parentage order if the birth was never registered in the first instance.
An application for parentage order may seem daunting but a little planning goes a long way! If you need assistance with your application for parentage order or have questions about the surrogacy process in general, please get in touch, our surrogacy lawyers would be more than happy to hear from you.
Surrogacy Enquiry
For more information on our surrogacy services and quotes on our professional fees, please contact us or visit our quoting page. One of our experienced surrogacy lawyers would be more than happy to get in touch to see how we can best assist you along your journey.