At present, under UK law the birth mother is always the legal parent. It follows that, upon birth, the surrogate will be the child’s legal mother, irrespective of whether the child is born in the UK or overseas.
If the surrogate is married or in a civil partnership, her partner will be the other legal parent even though they will have no biological connection to the child. This rule applies unless the husband, wife or civil partner of the surrogate can show that they did not consent to the conception.
If the surrogate is not married or in a civil partnership, the second legal parent will normally be the intended father (assuming his is the biological father). Alternatively, if conception takes place at a UK fertility clinic, someone else can be nominated as the second parent such as a non-biological father or an intended mother.