Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the number of parental order applications for surrogate born babies made by single men in the courts of England and Wales since 2019 on safeguarding risks.

There has been no assessment made of the potential impact of the number of parental order applications for surrogate born babies made by single men in the courts of England and Wales since 2019 on safeguarding risks.

The Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service is responsible for making safeguarding assessments on parental order applications. All such applications are considered by the family court on the facts of the individual cases.