Commercial surrogacy is illegal in the UK. This means that intended parents are prohibited from paying a woman to carry and give birth to a child. However, intended parents are permitted to pay any reasonable expenses that the surrogate incurs in respect of the surrogacy. There are no legal definitions or exhaustive lists of what may be considered a reasonable expense, but they would generally include things such as maternity clothes, travel expenses for medical appointments, and loss of earnings arising as a consequence of the pregnancy.
The level of expenses paid to surrogates vary. According to Surrogacy UK, surrogates typically receive £10,000-£15,000, although this will depend on the individual circumstances of a case.