 Act 2008) has made it possible under certain conditions for the female partner of a woman who gives birth following donor insemination to be treated as the child’s parent and to share parental responsibility with the carrying mother. Where the treatment was given before the amendments came into force on 6 April 2009 the couple may wish to achieve parental status for the other partner by an application for an adoption order. A male couple may be able to apply for a parental order under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 following a surrogacy arrangement provided they meet certain criteria. 147 Where they do not meet the criteria for such an application, they also may consider adoption. In either case, where the couple is in a civil partnership, a parental responsibility agreement may be a suitable alternative; if they are not, then a residence order would enable both partners to share parental responsibility. Applications by relatives 8.73. As with partner applications, it will be necessary for the local authority, on receipt of a notice of intention, to offer advice and information and to ascertain the reasons why the proposed adopters wish to adopt. In these cases, unless they have obtained the court’s leave to apply earlier, the child will have been living with the proposed adopters for three years. These applications may arise in a variety of circumstances, including:  a fear of interference by the birth parent(s) in the arrangements;  a realisation that the current carers need to have parental responsibility for the child;  the child’s or carers’ wish to cement their relationship by a legal tie;  an application by childless relatives to whom a child has been ‘gifted’ by a family member in accordance with the family’s culture;  where the child is l