IVF and surrogacy cases are putting the courts under pressure, a High Court judge has said, as he urged an update to legislation. 

Speaking at a conference of the Association of Lawyers for Children, family court judge Mr Justice MacDonald said judges were dealing with more of the cases as family situations became more complex. 

He also highlighted the growth in disputes between doctors and parents of children who suffer from terminal illnesses, following the high-profile Charlie Gard case earlier this year. 

“Judges, practitioners and professionals are increasingly concerned with cases that arise from surrogacy arrangements between individuals, litigation arising out of IVF treatment, and cases in which a dispute has arisen between a child’s parents and the doctors treating that child about where his or her best interests lie in the context of life-limiting conditions,” he said, naming the issue as one of many new types of cases being addressed by the courts. 

“The demographics of the population of children with whose welfare the court is concerned more often involves children born in other jurisdictions, unaccompanied asylum seekers and child refugees. 

“The volume of child abduction cases has increased markedly over recent years. The court is now also regularly concerned with the arrangements of families whose wealth allows their ordinary family life to span several countries,” he added.