Melissa Elsworth (instructed by Victoria Maxwell of Edward Cooke Family Law) represented the Applicants in a complex international surrogacy case, where it transpired that a fertility clinic in Sri Lanka, either due to "inadvertent error, perhaps as a result of poor internal processes” or "was intentionally done (for whatever reason)”, had, unbeknownst to the Applicants, used donor eggs and donor sperm to create embryos, rather than donor eggs and the intended father’s sperm. This was only discovered by the Applicants when DNA testing was carried out after the children’s births. As a result of this, the Applicants were no longer eligible for a Parental Order.

The Court, for the reasons set out in its judgment, granted permission to withdraw the Parental Order application, made a joint ‘lives with’ order in the Applicants’ favour, and granted them permission to make an application for an Adoption Order. Peel J praised Melissa’s "comprehensive written and oral submissions” and noted that she appeared on a pro bono basis.