Surrogate babies are being handed over in hospital car parks because 'humiliating' rules mean the moment cannot always take place on NHS property

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Babies born to surrogate mothers are being handed to their new parents in hospital car parks because of ‘humiliating’ rules, campaigners say.

The emotional moment cannot always take place on NHS property – as health bosses fear being caught up in legal cases should disputes arise between the surrogate and the intended family.

The law states the surrogate is the legal parent, with the new mother and father only gaining custody after applying to a court once the baby is six weeks old.

But families have spoken of their anguish at not being allowed to meet their child in hospital. 

Babies born to surrogate mothers are sometimes being handed to new parents in hospital car parks over fears of disputes arising between the parties on NHS property (file picture)

One mother who used a surrogate said she felt like she was ‘stealing a baby’.

The Government said the situation was ‘unacceptable’ – but lawyers claimed the practice was common. 

Some hospitals ban on-site handovers in the hope of avoiding involvement in legal disputes – for example if the surrogate decides she wants to keep the baby.

Campaigners insist the law should be changed to make it clear who the legal parents are from birth.

Some 214 surrogate babies were registered with the courts in 2014-15, up from 138 in 2011-12.

Natalie Smith, a trustee of campaign group Surrogacy UK, said: ‘It’s almost as though they are being made to feel less of a parent just because they haven’t been able to give birth themselves.

‘Many of these women have gone through cancer or had medical conditions where they weren’t able to conceive, or gone though years and years of failed IVF or recurrent miscarriages. 

'No new parents should have to start their journey being made to feel demeaned and ignored, especially at such a life-changing, joyful and vulnerable time.’

Describing her child’s birth using a surrogate, one woman told The Independent: ‘[Hospital staff] took us off the premises. They got the surrogate’s husband to come and escort us out. 

Surrogacy UK trustee Natalie Smith, pictured, said such a hand-over means mothers and fathers are 'feeling less of a parent'

'He physically carried the baby out of the hospital and handed us the baby in the car park.’ 

The unnamed mother added: ‘We felt like we were stealing a baby ... there’s an overwhelming sense you’ve done something wrong by having a child through surrogacy. 

'We’re good law-abiding people and we were treated like we’d done something wrong.’

Natalie Gamble, a lawyer specialising in fertility cases, said: ‘This is relatively common, since hospitals do not wish to be involved in the handover of a child [to people] who are not legal parents.

‘It’s just one example of how the lack of legal recognition of surrogacy in the UK makes those involved feel what they are doing is somehow illegitimate or murky.’

Surrogacy is legal in England and Wales as long as mothers are not paid more than fair expenses.

Former Labour MP Julie Hilling, who has spoken about the issue in Parliament, condemned rules meaning some parents have to resort to car park handovers. 

‘It makes surrogacy into something like a dirty secret, when actually it’s a very positive choice for would-be parents, and for the woman who is prepared to carry a child,’ she added. 

‘More people are considering surrogacy, so clearly we have to do something to ensure ridiculous things like that don’t happen.’

A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘It is unacceptable that some families feel they are being forced off NHS premises after the birth of children. 

'We are working with surrogacy groups to develop guidelines both for those entering into surrogacy arrangements and also for care professionals.’