People picture a courtroom, a witness box and cross-examination. A straightforward Parental Order hearing is nothing like that. It is usually a small hearing room, a judge who has read the papers, a handful of administrative questions, and — at the end — an order that makes you your child's legal parents.
This page is what to expect, so the unfamiliarity stops being the frightening part. Guidance only, not legal advice.
The shape of it: usually two hearings
Most cases involve two.
The first directions hearing comes a few weeks after your application is issued. Its job is housekeeping: confirming everyone has been served, checking the Cafcass parental order reporter is appointed and has made contact, identifying anything missing from the evidence, and setting a timetable to the final hearing. Nothing is decided about the order itself.
The final hearing comes after the Cafcass report is filed — Cafcass's own guidance puts that work at typically eight to twelve weeks. This is where the order is made.
Some cases add hearings; a case with a genuine legal difficulty in it will. A simple, uncontested application often runs on exactly two.
Who is in the room
- The judge. A district judge in a straightforward case; a High Court judge where the case raises a real legal problem.
- You, as applicants. Expect to attend both hearings.
- Your child. Courts commonly like to see the child at the final hearing, and many families bring them. If you have any doubt, ask the court in advance rather than guessing.
- The Cafcass parental order reporter, who may attend the final hearing.
- Your surrogate, as a respondent, is entitled to attend but in most cases does not — and where she is abroad, does not realistically. Her consent reaches the court on Form A101A; she does not need to be present for it to count.
- A legal representative, if you have one. You are not required to.
What the judge is actually deciding
Two things, in order.
First, the section 54 conditions. Every one of them has to be satisfied: the genetic link, your domicile, your ages, your relationship, the child living with you, the surrogate's valid consent given at least six weeks after the birth, and that no more than reasonable expenses were paid unless the court authorises them. These are threshold questions. The judge will have checked them against your bundle before you arrive.
Second, welfare. The child's welfare throughout their life is the paramount consideration. This is not a test you pass or fail on the day — it is why the Cafcass report exists, and in the overwhelming majority of cases that report is positive and the welfare question is straightforward.
What you will actually be asked
In an uncontested case with a complete bundle, remarkably little. Judges typically want to confirm:
- that the facts in your statement are true
- that you understand what a Parental Order does — that it transfers legal parenthood permanently, and extinguishes the surrogate's
- that you have disclosed every payment
- sometimes, how the child is doing
That is close to the whole of it. This is not an examination of whether you are good parents. The assessment of your household has already happened, in your home, with the Cafcass reporter — and that report is in front of the judge.
The single area where questioning goes deeper is payments. If anything paid to or for your surrogate goes beyond reasonable expenses, the court has to authorise it retrospectively, and the judge will want to understand it. Courts have authorised payments in a great many international cases; what they dislike is discovering something that was not disclosed. Full disclosure in the witness statement turns a difficult moment into a short one.
If your surrogate is abroad
This is the normal case for international surrogacy and it is well-trodden. She does not attend. Her consent comes in on a properly witnessed A101A, taken no earlier than six weeks after the birth by a notary, a British consular officer, or another person authorised in that country — a Cafcass reporter cannot take it overseas. What the court needs is assurance that she understood what she was signing and gave it freely.
Where a surrogate cannot be found, or is incapable of giving agreement, the Act allows the court to proceed without her consent — but that is a materially different application requiring a statement of facts, and it is specialist territory. If it applies to you, get advice rather than working from a web page.
What happens when the order is made
The judge makes the Parental Order and you become your child's legal parents, permanently. The order is then sent to the Registrar General, and your child is re-registered in the Parental Order Register. In due course you can obtain a new birth certificate naming you as the parents.
If either of you is British, the order also makes your child a British citizen if they were not one already — worth knowing, because it is frequently the cleanest route to a first passport. The citizenship guide covers how that works and why the order and the passport have to be planned together.
Practical notes
- Ask how the hearing will be conducted. Remote and hybrid hearings are common. Check rather than assume, and if you need to attend remotely from abroad, raise it early — permission is not automatic.
- Take the bundle. Even if the court has it, having your own copy indexed and to hand is worth the printing.
- Bring the child's documents. Passport or birth certificate, in case identity is checked.
- Allow far more time than the listing. Family lists overrun as a matter of routine.
- It is usually short. Families are often surprised how quickly something this significant is done.
The free two-minute check tells you whether your case looks straightforward or whether it genuinely needs a specialist — before you give us an email address. PO Navigator tracks your deadline and builds the bundle the judge will be reading.
See also: the court bundle · where to file · the Cafcass visit · all guides
Sources: HFEA 2008 s.54; Family Procedure Rules Part 13; Cafcass — Parental orders (surrogacy). Positions stated here are as at September 2026. General information about the law of England and Wales, not legal advice.