Status of Children Act 1978

A reference in this section to a fertilisation procedure is a reference to the procedure of implanting in the womb of a woman—

an embryo derived from an ovum produced by another woman and fertilised by semen produced by a man who is not the husband of the first-mentioned woman; or

for the purpose of fertilising an ovum inside her body, an ovum produced by another woman together with semen produced by a man who is not the husband of the first-mentioned woman.

If a woman has undergone a fertilisation procedure as a result of which she has become pregnant—

the woman who has undergone the fertilisation procedure is presumed, for all purposes, to have become pregnant as a result of the fertilisation of an ovum produced by her and to be the mother of any child born as a result of the pregnancy; and

the woman who produced the ovum from which the embryo used in the procedure was derived is presumed, for all purposes, not to be the mother of any child born as a result of the pregnancy.

A presumption of law that arises by virtue of subsection (2) is irrebuttable.

Also, the man who produced the semen has no rights or liabilities in relation to any child born as a result of the pregnancy happening because of the use of the semen unless, at any time, he becomes the husband of the child’s mother.

The rights and liabilities of a man who produced the semen and becomes the husband of the mother of a child born as a result of a pregnancy mentioned in subsection (2) are the rights and liabilities of a father of a child but, in the absence of agreement to the contrary, are restricted to rights and liabilities that arise after the man becomes the husband of the child’s mother.