It's an "unusual arrangement," a judge in Britain acknowledges, but there's no legal problem with it: A man in his 20s is adopting his own biological son, whose surrogate mom was the man's mother, the Telegraph reports. In other words, as the Mirror headline has it: "Woman gives birth to own GRANDSON." "Careful consideration" went into the parenting process, the judge says in a ruling that doesn't name anyone involved. Initially, another one of the man's relatives was going to be the surrogate, but her own medical concerns forced her to change her mind. That's when the man's mother agreed to take over, the Telegraph notes.
The baby "has lived with ... his biological father since birth. All the reports describe (the man's) care of (the infant) as being to a high standard," the judge wrote, per the Telegraph. "The arrangement the parties entered into is not one, as far as I am aware, that either this court or the clinic has previously encountered, and although highly unusual, is entirely lawful under the relevant statutory provisions." In the Mirror, a lawyer who supports the decision emphasizes that though the man's mother carried the baby, the egg wasn't hers. Still, legally, she is the child's mother. But an MP calls the situation "worrying," while a parenting expert quoted by the paper raises doubts. "He'll have so much confusion in his background," she says. (Another mother in Britain reportedly wants to become a surrogate for her dead daughter's baby.)