A Kent woman is challenging the Government for equal rights to maternity pay for parents of surrogate children.

The woman, known only as RKA, has taken her case to the High Court - calling for those who ask women to have surrogate children for them to be given the same rights as those who adopt.

She is taking legal action against the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions under the Human Rights Act on the basis she has been discriminated against.

She says this is because she is not entitled to any statutory paid leave to care for her new-born child, or given employment protection while off caring for her new-born son.

RKA has been unable to carry a child due to a medical condition since birth.

Last year, following IVF treatment she and her husband successfully created embryos, which were transferred to a surrogate.

In September - after confirmation that the pregnancy was progressing well - RKA approached her employer requesting details of her leave entitlement.

Her employer advised her were under no legal obligation to allow her time off to care for her child, but finally offered 52 weeks unpaid leave as a gesture of goodwill.

RKA, unhappy with the difference in treatment she was receiving, contacted her MP on 1 November last year.

Her MP forwarded the request for help with obtaining any paid leave entitlement, to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith MP.

In November, a letter from the Department of Work & Pensions refused help on the basis that maternity benefits were related to: “time off in the later stages of pregnancy and [to] prepare for, and recover from, childbirth in the interests of health and that of their baby.”

RKA queried that definition, considering leave is given for adopters.

In January this year - the same month that RKA’s son was born - a further response was sent by the Department of Work & Pensions which said: “Consideration of the final proposals is still under way and changes will be subject to affordability. The Government response will be published in due course.”

Since then no proposals have been released.

After accepting her firm's offer of unpaid leave RKA has since been told she has been made redundant.

As she didn't qualify for maternity leave, her unpaid leave was not protected by law in the same way.

Merry Varney from law firm Leigh Day & Co who is representing RKA, said: “We believe the current equality act and employment rights act are not currently adequate for parents of children born via surrogacy.

“The Government has a positive obligation under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act to protect surrogate parents to ensure respect for their private and family life and a positive obligation under Article 14 to avoid discrimination.

"We hope that through bringing these cases, parents of children born via surrogacy can be considered equal to those fortunate to have a family through natural childbirth and certainly, alongside the rights afforded to adoptive parents, so that they too can care for their new-born child without having added financial stress or having to resign from their employment."

Steve Holford, chairman of Surrogacy UK, which supports the challenge, said:

“There can be no reason to treat parents of children born via surrogacy any differently from any other parent looking after a new-born, taking time to bond with the child and establishing a routine.

“In surrogacy there remains the same absolute need to provide this essential care as in any other pregnancy.

"The Government has a responsibility to ensure that all parents have rights to a family life and the best possible start for their child.”