[Australia] – Herald Sun – “Twins victory for gay Melbourne couple” by Mark Dunn
This is not the “landmark” or “new” case it purports to be unfortunately. It appears that it is merely another granting of parenting orders to a gay couple who did surrogacy overseas. They have in fact been granted to gay couples for many years in these circumstances and still Gay Dads via surrogacy still are not recognised as the “legal” parents of their children in Australia.
Nevertheless, it is good news and a surprising positive article from the traditionally sensationalist Herald Sun. Congratulations to the gay couple who got their parenting orders! Well done.
A GAY couple who paid an Indian surrogate mother to give birth to twin girls have won a major legal case for parenting rights.
The case comes as overseas surrogacy booms, with 350 babies expected to be brought to Australia in 2011, compared with 50 just two years ago.
The Herald Sun can reveal the parenting rights breakthrough hot on the heels of Nicole Kidman’s shock new surrogate baby revelation and the success of TV hit comedy Modern Family, which features a gay male couple with a baby girl.
The 20-month-old girls were born in Mumbai to a woman who carried eggs from an anonymous donor impregnated with sperm from one of the men.
The Melbourne couple went to the Family Court seeking full parental status for the non-genetic father.
“In this case, the children do not have the benefit of a mother, but they have the good fortune of having two fathers,” Justice Paul Cronin found. “As a matter of law, the word ‘parent’ tends to suggest some biological connection, but … biology does not really matter; it is all about parental responsibility.”
Lawyer Susan Buchanan, who represented the couple at the Family Court, said the ruling could pave the way for other same-sex couples to win full parenting rights.
A gay couple told 60 Minutes last year they paid $40,000 for an Indian woman to give birth to twin girls.
“They’re going to grow up finding this totally normal until they see otherwise and then, you know, when they start asking questions we’ll give them the answers,” one of the men told the program.
The Family Court decision was welcomed by surrogacy advocates.
“It’s a major step forward having that kind of judgment because it sets a precedent,” said Sam Everingham, of Australian Families Through Gestational Surrogacy.
“Any judge would have seen that this is a modern family made in a fairly unconventional way.”
But Catholic ethicist Nicholas Tonti-Filippini said surrogacy should be discouraged because a “committee of parents” – surrogate, donors and commissioning parents – confused a child’s sense of identity.
“Parents don’t have rights, they have responsibilities. The crucial thing in all of this is that the courts make decisions in the interest of the child.”
The Family Court made “parenting orders” in three international surrogacy cases last year where couples- and in one case, a single Sydney man – returned to Australia seeking citizenship for the newborns.
India is the most popular source of surrogate babies.
Mr Everingham said more than 200 surrogate babies would be born this year to Indian women, who will charge about $25,000.
About 100 babies will come from the US, where the going rate is $150,000-plus, while about 50 will come from Thailand, where the charge is up to $50,000.
[Source: Original Article]