Surrogacy Leave and Pay in Northern Ireland

Who this guide is for

Intended parents having a baby through surrogacy, and surrogates, who work in Northern Ireland and want to know what leave and pay they can get from work, how to ask for it, and their rights if their employer gets it wrong.

What this guide does not cover

• Work in England, Wales or Scotland: see the England, Wales and Scotland guide.
• How to apply for a parental order, who is the child's legal parent, surrogacy agreements and expenses. These are court matters. This guide does not cover them: see nidirect or ask a family law solicitor.
• Adoption through an adoption agency, or an adoption order where neither intended parent is genetically related to the child. This guide does not cover these: ask the Labour Relations Agency (LRA).
• Maternity pay for the surrogate: see our maternity pay guide. Asking to work flexibly: see our flexible working guide.
• The exact day adoption leave starts in a surrogacy case, the Shared Parental Leave rules, keeping in touch days and your rights when you go back after adoption leave. This guide does not cover these: ask the LRA.
• How much compensation a tribunal can award: see our tribunal guide.

What the rules depend on

1. Are you an intended parent or the surrogate? Intended parents can get adoption leave and pay, or paternity leave and pay. For the surrogate's maternity rights, see our maternity pay guide.
2. Have you applied, or will you apply within 6 months of the birth, for a parental order, and do you expect the court to grant it? The leave and pay in this guide depend on it.
3. Are you an employee? Adoption leave and paternity leave are for employees. A worker who is not an employee does not get paternity leave but may get Statutory Paternity Pay.
4. When is the baby due, when did you start this job, and what do you earn? These decide the 26-week test and the pay.

"Which leave can we take?"

If you are a couple who are Parental Order Parents, only one of you can take adoption leave. The other may qualify for statutory paternity leave and pay.

You can't claim Statutory Adoption Pay if your partner has claimed it, or if you are claiming Statutory Paternity Pay for the child.

If you don't qualify for Statutory Adoption Leave, speak to your employer: they may offer more. You could also take paid holiday, unpaid leave or parental leave.

"Can I get adoption leave?"

To qualify for Statutory Adoption Leave as an intended parent in a surrogacy arrangement, you must be an employee. You must also have applied for a parental order, or will apply within 6 months of the birth, and expect the court to grant it.

If you meet these conditions and give the right notice, you can take Statutory Adoption Leave however many hours you work and however much you are paid.

Statutory Adoption Leave is 52 weeks: 26 weeks of ordinary adoption leave followed by 26 weeks of additional adoption leave.

Your employer may have its own scheme that is more generous, but can't offer you less than your statutory rights.

"How do I tell my employer?"

You must let your employer know by the 15th week before the expected week of birth that you plan to take adoption leave, in writing if your employer asks.

Tell your employer the date of birth as soon as reasonably possible after the birth.

If your employer asks, you must also give them a statutory declaration that you hold a parental order, or have applied or will apply for one, for the child you are having with the help of the surrogate.

"Do I qualify for adoption pay, and how much is it?"

To get Statutory Adoption Pay as a Parental Order parent, you must have been employed by your present employer without a break for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the due date.

Your average earnings in the 8 weeks up to the end of that week must be at least the lower earnings limit, which is £129 a week in the 2026-27 tax year.

Give your employer 28 days' notice of the date you want Statutory Adoption Pay to start and the expected date of birth. If you can't give 28 days' notice, tell your employer as soon as you can.

Statutory Adoption Pay is paid for up to 39 weeks. For the first 6 weeks you get 90% of your average weekly earnings.

For the next 33 weeks you get £194.32 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. This is the rate for the 2026-27 tax year, the same as in Great Britain.

Disputes about Statutory Adoption Pay or Statutory Paternity Pay are decided by HMRC. Disputes about leave, dismissal or unfair treatment go to the LRA and an industrial tribunal.

"What paternity leave can the other parent get?"

You have the right to paternity leave if you will become a parent through a surrogacy and are eligible to apply for a parental order for the child.

You need 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due to get paternity leave in Northern Ireland. You must be an employee.

You can take either 1 week or 2 weeks of paternity leave. You can't take odd days, and if you take 2 weeks they must be in a row.

In Northern Ireland, paternity leave must be taken within 56 days of the birth.

You cannot take paternity leave if you have first taken shared parental leave.

Statutory Paternity Pay is paid for up to 2 weeks in a row, depending on how much paternity leave you take. It is £194.32 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, and needs average earnings of at least £129 a week.

If you are an agency worker, office holder or subcontractor, you will not normally have the right to paternity leave, but you might get Statutory Paternity Pay.

"Can I have time off for antenatal appointments?"

If you are an intended parent who is eligible for and intends to apply for a parental order (or you already have one), you can take unpaid time off work to go with the surrogate to up to 2 of her antenatal appointments.

The time off is capped at 6 and a half hours for each appointment. No qualifying service is needed.

"I've been dismissed or treated unfairly"

A dismissal because you took, or asked to take, adoption leave or paternity leave is treated as unfair under Northern Ireland's own law (Article 131 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996).

No minimum service is needed for a dismissal for an automatically unfair reason.

Before most claims you must notify the Labour Relations Agency (LRA). Early conciliation through the LRA is free. You can't go to a tribunal without at least considering it, unless you are exempt.

If you notify the LRA within your time limit, the clock stops for up to 1 calendar month while conciliation takes place, plus up to 14 more days if both sides agree.

Deadlines you must meet

• Adoption leave: tell your employer by the 15th week before the expected week of birth.
• Adoption pay: 28 days' notice of the start date and the expected date of birth, or as soon as you can.
• Paternity leave: finish it within 56 days of the birth.
• Parental order: the leave and pay depend on applying within 6 months of the birth.
• Most industrial tribunal claims, including unfair dismissal, must be made within 3 months less 1 day. The Great Britain change to 6 months does not apply to these claims in Northern Ireland.
• Early conciliation: tell the LRA within your time limit. Check your exact date with the LRA.

Traps

• In Great Britain paternity leave became a day-one right on 6 April 2026. That change does not apply in Northern Ireland.
• Great Britain lets paternity leave be taken in 2 separate weeks up to a year after the birth. In Northern Ireland the weeks must be together and within 56 days.
• Only one of a couple can take adoption leave. The other looks at paternity leave.
• From week 7, adoption pay is capped at £194.32 a week. Only the first 6 weeks have no upper limit.
• A pay dispute goes to HMRC, not to a tribunal.
• Do not use Great Britain rules here.