A gay father who claims a woman stole his baby is suing the surrogate mother after she barred him from the birth and kept the infant.

The man, aged in his 30s, and his partner, in his 70s, met the woman through a surrogacy agency.

She agreed to have sperm implanted from the younger of the two, but kept the baby when the man's older partner died.

The woman agreed to have a baby on behalf of the gay couple, but then kept the child when of the two men died (file photo)

When she went into labour, the surrogate told medics not to let the biological father near her, The Sun reports.

A source told the paper it was rare for surrogates to refuse to give away a baby after birth.

'She took the view the child was no longer going to a loving couple,' the source said. 'She formed a bond with him when pregnant and thinks she’s doing the right thing.'

The father is suing after claiming the woman broke the terms of their ­surrogacy agreement.

When she went into labour, the woman told hospital workers to keep the biological father away from her

But UK law always treats the surrogate as the mother, affording her the right to keep the child.

According to a government website, contracts regarding surrogacy are not protected in the same way as others.

'Surrogacy contracts aren’t enforced by UK law, even if you’ve a signed deal with your surrogate and have paid for her expenses,' it reads.

The mother was approached at her home and told the reporter: 'I'm not going to make a comment.'