In re X and Another

A British couple (plaintiffs) traveled to Ukraine on temporary visas and entered a commercial surrogacy agreement — illegal in Great Britain but legal in Ukraine — with a married Ukrainian woman implanted with a donor egg and the male plaintiff's sperm; she gave birth to twins, and both she and her husband disavowed all parental rights after being paid in full. Under Ukrainian law, the British couple were the twins' legal parents, but the twins were not Ukrainian citizens, and once the couple's temporary visas expired they couldn't remain in Ukraine. Returning to Great Britain, the couple discovered their commercial surrogacy agreement was unenforceable there, meaning they weren't legally the twins' parents under British law and the twins had no right of entry — leaving the twins effectively stateless. After DNA testing proved the male plaintiff was the twins' biological father, British immigration authorities allowed the family to enter on a discretionary basis pending resolution of the twins' status, and the couple sought a court order declaring them the twins' legal parents under British law.