A High Court judge has ruled that a gay couple should have custody of a baby girl rather than the surrogate mother.
The woman said they had agreed for her to be the main parent of the child, but the father, who donated sperm, said that the woman had agreed to be a surrogate for him and his partner.
It was deemed that the one-year-old should be removed from the custody of her mother and placed with her father as it was in “the best interests” of the girl.
Mr Justice Russell said: "The pregnancy was contrived with the aim of a same-sex couple having a child to form a family assisted by a friend.
"Therefore [the girl] living with [the two men] and spending time with [the woman] from time to time, fortunately, coincides with the reality of her conception and accords with [the girl's] identity and place within her family."
Family Law News
Grandparents and family carers in the North West have joined forces to call for better support for family members who are bringing up a relative’s child because of serious family problems.
...New figures from the Fostering Network show that at least 9,000 new foster families are needed across the UK during 2013 to look after the record numbers of children in care who need to be fostered.
Would-be adopters can now access a new map showing the areas with the highest number of children waiting for new homes.
Councils must do more to ensure children awaiting adoption are not deprived of a loving permanent family because of council delays, children’s minister Edward Timpson has said.
Secretary of State Michael Gove has called on more people to adopt children. The call comes as it has emerged that more than 4200 children are ready for adoption but have not yet been able to move in with a family – a figure that has grown by 650 in each of the last two years.
New poll findings from YouGov commissioned by charities Grandparents Plus, the Family and Parenting Institute and Family Lives have revealed that 74% of adults in the North of England think grandparents and other relatives bringing up a child should receive practical help from their local council, and 63% think they should receive a financial allowance.
Children from single parent families are growing up in poverty as successive governments fail to make work pay and tackle single parent unemployment, reports Gingerbread. The charity has launched a three-year campaign calling on the government to take action to help single parents escape unemployment and working poverty.
The Department of Work and Pensions has published the latest quarterly statistics on the payment of child maintenance through the Child Support Agency (CSA).
The type of relationship a woman has with her ex-partner is a factor in how the couple shares custody of children, according to a Kansas State University expert on post divorce and co-parenting relationships.
A recent parliamentary inquiry report by two All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) has called for an independent investigation into children's homes in England, claiming that the system of residential care is 'not fit for purpose' for children who go missing.