Bethan Carr

Bethan is a senior associate in the Guildford family team. She advises on all areas of private family law, including divorce, financial remedy proceedings, private children disputes and cohabitation issues. She has a particular specialism in domestic and international surrogacy arrangements and frequently advises intended parents on their legal status and supports them in securing legal parenthood.

Bethan’s approach is to focus on finding a creative solution which works best for her clients’ individual situations.

Bethan was highly commended in the 2021 Lexis Nexis Family Law Awards, Family Law Young Solicitor of the Year category, and was nominated for Surrogacy Professional of the Year in the National Surrogacy Awards 2022.

Bethan studied Law at the University of Southampton and completed her training contract at a niche fertility law firm, qualifying in 2017. Bethan then worked at a national law firm dedicated entirely to family matters, before joining Penningtons Manches Cooper in March 2020.

Bethan is an active member of Resolution and currently sits on Resolution’s Children Committee.

Bethan has written about surrogacy for a number of publications, including The Times and Glamour magazine. She has also appeared on BBC 1’s The Big Questions for a debate on surrogacy, as well as speaking on BBC5 Live with Naga Munchetty about the need for reform in this area.

Who is my parent?, The Review - August 2022

Surrogacy law and the development of the ‘creative family court’, The Review – May 2021

How will family law develop over the next 50 years?, The Review – October 2019

We need surrogacy laws to represent reality, The Times – January 2019

Streamlining declarations of parentage, The Review – February 2018

Mitochondrial Donation in the United Kingdom, ABA The SciTech Lawyer – November 2016