ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how paternity is allocated and explains the concept of parental responsibility. Parental responsibility is the legal term used to describe the rights and responsibilities that a parent has in connection with a child. Two major themes emerges in the chapter are tension between biological parenthood and social parenthood. Parenthood is the determining of who is the mother and father of the child. Surrogacy arrangement is where a woman carries a child for a couple, with the plan being she will hand the child over at birth. If the surrogacy works and the child are handed over, the couple can apply for a parental order under s 54 of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act 2008, which will make them the parents of the child. The Children Act section 2(7) indicates that if someone has parental responsibility for a child they can make decisions about the child without consulting the other parent.
