The Times 1st January 2011 (2)

"Pioneering gay fathers set up advice service on surrogacy" is the headline of a piece on pages 26-27.

The millionaire British fathers whose experiences paved the way for Elton John and David Furnish to become parents are to set up an advice service which will help other homosexual couples...

"It is not for same sex couples only. Tony and I have now helpted 38 couples to become parents over the space of six years using surrogacy and apart from those 38 families who have had children, we've helped even more people by putting them in touch with other agencies. I would say 80 per cent of the people have been heterosexual couples."

[Hyperlink not in the Times original report!]

The article portrays the existence of a surrogacy market place in California, which can be used by couples in the UK to work round the illegality of commercial surrogacy here.

Mr Drewitt-Barlow said that he would expect to pay American egg donors, who are often recruited from the country's top universities, between £10 000 and £25 000 for one round of egg harvesting.

"A first-time surrogate costs £20 000 to £25 000", he said. "And what they call a 'proven surrogate', who has had several successful surrogate pregnancies, might get up to £65 000." Then there is the additional cost of IVF, he added.

The figures being quoted are staggering. The wealth of those seeking to use surrogacy to have children is also a cause to stop and think. And, hidden away in the process, is the eugenic implications of choosing egg donors from among those attending top universities.

It would appear that somewhere in this process there is a lot of money to be made.

UPDATE: Paulinus' post here adds something to this coverage.