How does surrogacy work and what are the laws in the UK?
Surrogacy is when a woman carries a baby for a couple who are unable to conceive or carry a child themselves.
Such couples may include those who have suffered recurrent miscarriages, repeated IVF failures, premature menopause or a hysterectomy.
The risks of being a surrogate mother are the same as for every pregnancy, and include nausea, heart burn and back ache.
In extreme cases, surrogates can suffer high blood pressure or gestational diabetes.
Straight surrogacy
This involves using the surrogate's egg and the intended father's sperm.
It is the least expensive and simplest form of the procedure.
Host surrogacy
Host surrogacy requires IVF with either the intended mother's eggs or donor eggs rather than those of the surrogate.
In this case, the surrogate is genetically unrelated to the baby.
Donor eggs can be from friends or relatives, or anonymously donated.
What are the laws?
Surrogacy is legal in the UK, however, it cannot be advertised.
No third parties are allowed to be involved and surrogates can only receive payments to cover expenses incurred as a result of being pregnant.
In the US, surrogacy costs around $100,000 (£75,879), with laws varying between states.
Source: Surrogacy UK