In Britain, where it is illegal to advertise for a surrogate or for a surrogate to advertise her services, a surrogate can not be paid a fee but is eligible to "reasonable expenses". The practice has been strictly regulated since 1985 after Kim Cotton was paid 6,500 to give birth to a child using her own egg and the sperm of a man whose wife was infertile.
The law: Surrogate baby can come at a hefty cost
The US state of California is recognised as somewhere where surrogacy agreements - including those made by gay and lesbian couples - are generally accepted under law. In the state surrogates can be legally paid a fee for their services with a price of £25,000 per child not uncommon, and the adoptees can apply for a pre-birth order which will ensure that they will be listed on the original birth certificate, regardless of whose egg and sperm was used in the conception.