The website of New Life, a surrogacy agency registered in London.Women recruited by an international surrogacy agency to carry babies for wealthy clients are being asked to undergo “unethical” medical procedures that increase their risk of serious complications, an investigation suggests.
, which involves two or three embryos being implanted into surrogates and increases the chance of twins or triplets being born. New Life is registered in the UK and says on its website that it is headquartered in London. It is actively offering to “meet parents willing to discuss surrogacy/egg donation options” in the UK and has issued contracts bearing the name of its UK entity.
In the UK, commercial surrogacy is banned but altruistic surrogacy is permitted and surrogates can be paid reasonable expenses. An historic lack of surrogates has driven some to look abroad. In 2020-21, more than 300 applications for parental orders were made,With “hundreds of employees” worldwide and at least 16 active websites advertising services in 10 languages, New Life is a major agency catering to the demand and boasts of a “world renowned reputation”.
In an extreme example, its branch in Ukraine previously suggested babies born with disabilities could be legally abandoned at an orphanage if they were unwanted, telling potential customers from overseas that, in the event of their surrogate giving birth to a baby with an “anomaly”, they “have a right to leave the baby” at an orphanage.