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Archive for the ‘Surrogacy’ Category

Channel 7 – Sunrise – Gay Dads Steve and Lee

September 3rd, 2010 rodneycruise No comments

ABC Far North Queensland – “Two Dads are Better Than One” by Sam Davis

July 14th, 2010 rodneycruise No comments

A wonderful story from Far North Queensland.  Two proud Dads, one beautiful son and an incredible story.  Read about it and download the MP3 below.

Becoming parents was hard work for gay couple, Pete and Mark but they’d do it all over again if they had to.

Proud Cairns dads Pete (left) and Mark (right), had their son Drake by surrogacy in Russia.

A shiny child’s bike lies on its side on the front lawn of an immaculate garden.

Around the back gay dads Pete and Mark chase their son’s pet chickens around, trying to catch them.

Drake, 5, exclaims that the little birds are too fast for him.

It’s a happy, relaxed family scene. But it wasn’t an easy road to get there. After many hurdles Drake was born by surrogacy in Russia.

"We decided that we would have a child, that it was time for us to have a family. We wanted to experience the joys of fatherhood and we started our surrogacy over in the United States back in 2002," Pete said.

At the time, Pete and Mark were living and working in the US.

"Surrogacy rules and laws are much easier in the United States," Mark said.

While not everybody was comfortable with the idea of surrogacy, Mark said the couple felt their options were limited.

"We knew that there were certainly plenty of women willing to do it so if it OK with them, then I guess it was OK with us," he said.

Mark and Pete used the internet to find prospective mothers for the child they longed to have. Apart from the woman’s health, Pete said one of the big concerns was how genuine the candidates were.

"We have heard about a lot of scams and certain people who represent themselves as so-called surrogate mothers who are really out there just to make money," he said.

Pete said the couple also wanted to make sure that any woman they employed as a surrogate fully understood the commitment she was making.

There was also the issue of whether the mother would actually give up her baby, Mark added.

After many failed attempts in the US, the cost was becoming prohibitive. The pair decided to try Russia as cheaper alternative.

That decision presented its own problems. Language was the main one. The couple took on a private Russian tutor and Pete gave up his job in Australia to oversee the process.

"We were very dedicated to making this work….we decided that at some point we didn’t have a budget. Our budget was anything that we had earned, anything that we had saved, anything that we could borrow to make this happen," Pete said.

In the end Pete said they found a woman who they ‘clicked with personality-wise’.

"She was very quiet. She didn’t have a lot of demands or conditions that some of the other woman that we had met had. She seemed like somebody we could work with," he said.

At the first attempt, Drake was conceived via artificial insemination using Mark’s sperm.

When asked why it was Mark’s sperm and not Pete’s, Mark laughed.

"A flip of the coin I think," he said.

During the pregnancy the couple stayed in limited contact with the mother via a translator. Mostly they were in touch just when there were practical things to care of such as visiting a doctor or getting an ultrasound.

"We made it clear to her that we wanted her to take vitamins, that we wanted her to eat well. We provided the money to do that and we just had to hope that she would do it," Mark said.

Neither man was at Drake’s birth because they felt it was important to protect the mother’s privacy.

When their son was five days old, Mark and Pete were handed their child. To their surprise, Drake’s mother gave them the baby and walked away.

"I think she had resigned herself to this much earlier on and was trying not to let emotions get in the way," Mark said.

In fact, it wasn’t the mother who got in the way of Drake coming back to Australia with his two Dads. What followed was two and a half years of bureaucracy before the child received permanent Australian residency and another year before he got citizenship.

On arrival in Australia customs quizzed Mark and Pete for hours. Police were also sent around to their house on a Sunday morning to investigate.

"When people see two guys together, you know it’s like, ‘Where’s his mother?’ We’ve had a lot of people ask that," Pete said.

"I think that even if one of us was a woman, we wouldn’t have had the same suspicions and problems that we went through."

Thinking back to the police visit, Pete said the police seemed to want reassurance that the situation was ‘right’.

They checked if the couple had equipment to raise a child like a bed, clothes and bottles.

Mark said he’s sure that they were under suspicion of paedophilia. But despite the difficulties, he said the couple would do it again with no hesitation.

"We’re a family just like any other family," he said with pride.

[Source: Original Article]

[Source: Original MP3]

Categories: Surrogacy Tags:

Hindustan Times – “Surrogacy not for married couples only: Draft law” by Satya Prakash

July 11th, 2010 rodneycruise No comments

Good news for Aussie gay guys about the new draft bill before the Indian Parliament.  It doesn’t appear that the new law would exclude gay men from using surrogacy in India.

Single men, women and even gays and lesbians could soon get the legal sanction to have children using surrogate mothers.

The draft Bill legalising surrogacy in India — the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) [Regulation] Bill 2010 — has provided for single parenthood by allowing “unmarried couples” and “single persons” from India and abroad to have children using ART procedure and surrogate mothers.
The Bill, with potential to rewrite the social landscape, may be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament if the Union Cabinet clears it. By conferring the right to have children on unmarried couples and single persons, the Bill attempts to achieve several historic feats — legalising commercial surrogacy, single parenthood, live-in relationships and entitling even gays and lesbians to start families using surrogate mothers — at one go.
“Along with the term single persons, the path is open for gays and lesbians to use ART procedure,” said senior advocate Rajiv Dhavan, who played a crucial role in drafting the Bill along with his colleagues at Public Interest Legal Support and Research Centre. “The expression ‘unmarried couples’ generally suggests heterosexual relationships. But its interpretation has been left open.”

By conferring the right to have children on unmarried couples and single persons, the Bill attempts to achieve several historic feats — legalising commercial surrogacy, single parenthood, live-in relationships and entitling even gays and lesbians to start families using surrogate mothers — at one go.

Asked if such a legislation would conform to traditional Indian values, Dhavan said, “This Bill does not provoke a moral attack on the institution of family. Married persons will mostly use it. But the option to create family will also be available to all others.”
Renting of womb is legal in India but there is no law to regulate surrogacy.

A 2009 Law Commission report had described ART industry as “a Rs 25,000-crore pot of gold”. “Wombs in India are on rent which translates into babies for foreigners and dollars for Indian surrogate mothers,” the report had stated.

The commission had recommended legalising only altruistic surrogacy arrangements and not commercial ones. But the draft Bill legalises commercial surrogacy as well.

Clause 34(3) of the draft Bill specifically says that apart from all expenses involved, “the  surrogate mother may also receive monetary compensation from the couple or individual, as the case may be, for agreeing to act as such surrogate.”
She will have to relinquish all parental rights over the child in favour of commissioning parent/s. Only a woman in the age-group of 21-35 can become a surrogate mother but she can not bear more than five children including her own.

In view of the recent controversy involving a German couple’s child born to a surrogate mother in India, the Bill makes it mandatory for foreigners to submit certificates on their country’s policy on surrogacy and that the child born to an Indian surrogate mother will get entry into the commissioning parent/s’ country.

The Bill proposes to set up a mechanism to regulate and supervise surrogacy in India.

[Source: Original Article]

Categories: Surrogacy Tags:

Gay Dads through Surrogacy – Blog Collection

July 11th, 2010 rodneycruise No comments

There is a growing collection of blogs out there from Australia and around the world of Gay Dads and Dads to be charting their surrogacy journey.  Each of them provide helpful information and tell a wonderful story full of love and commitment.  Below is a selection of the ones that I am aware of.

  • Gay Dads Australia – Australia – This blog is run by Gay Dads Australia and provide lots of information on Surrogacy together with an extensive media archive relating to all things Australian and GLBTI parenting.
  • From India With Love….  – Australia – This is a blog by Johnny and Darren “Just your happily ‘unmarried’ couple who this year celebrate 13 years together. We live in the picturesque Blue Mountains, west of Sydney in NSW Australia & have become parents via commercial surrogacy in India. This is our story…”
  • Orea-Zoi – Australia – George K’s blog about his surrogacy journey and his twins Electra and Eros “Lives life to the fullest, consumed by the world around him, delights in his family and friends…….. OH! and has just became a DAD! …… TWINS!” 
  • Lucas – Australia – “Single man, though not by choice, but I just have extremely high standards. Have wanted kids for nearly 13 years, so now’s the time to stop making excuses and bite the bullet. If I’m going to wait for Mr Right, then considering my past experience, I’ll always be waiting for a very long time. Will it be easy? Hell no! Fun? Mostly! Fulfilling? Always! If you wanna get to know me better, drop me a line and say hi”.
  • Our Surrogacy Story – Australia – Will and Michael  “have been in a committed relationship for nine years. We are now attempting to have a child through surrogacy to complete our family”.
  • Fatherhood: Life with Addison – USA – Greg and Rob’s blog on their Indian Surrogacy journey. ”We are two guys who had a precious baby girl born via Surrogacy India. This is our Story…”
  • Looking for Baby… – USA – Doug and Bill’s Egg-cellent Adventure into Surrogacy. "My partner, Bill, and I live in Hawaii and have been together since February 1996. This is a blog of our journey to become parents”.
  • Becoming Dads – Canada – Todd (Canadian) and Matt (Aussie) blog – “A gay couple consider expanding their non-traditional family; anyway but the olde fashioned way”.
  • Stalking the Stork – USA – Jason and Adrian blog. “We’re a Spanish-American binational gay couple living in Los Angeles and exploring becoming dads via surrogacy in India”.
  • Christmas Eve Boys – Terry and Steve from the US charting their journey.
  • Here we go again – Europe – Robert and Fredrik’s blog on their journey to become parents through surrogacy in India.
  • John and Steve are Having a Baby – John and Steve’s blog on their journey. “We’re really just two strapping, young (shut up) homosexuals who are at the stage in our relationship where having a child just seems…well right”.
  • The Allton Nee Three – UK/HK – Adam and Michael blog “Well this is our blog! We have been together 11 years and just embarked upon our first surrogacy attempt. We decided to use Thailand for our surrogacy and hopefully 2010 will be our year! We live and work in Hong Kong but are from the UK. We are updating this blog regularly and hoping for good news soon!!”
  • Chiang-Cruise – Australia – Jeff and Rodney Chiang-Cruise’s blog on their family and all things GLBTI parenting in Australia.
  • BT JR – The Becoming Tour – Australia – Chronicles of Geoff & Naigel’s Adventure to Become Parents.
  • Introspective – Australia – Michael “shares his life with a loving man, beautiful twin girls, 2 dogs and 2 rainbow lorikeets”.
  • 2 Dads and a Baby – Australia – Paul and Chris “Follow us on our journey to becoming a family”.
  • 2 Dad Family – Australia – Two guys in Melbourne and the “ragdoll cat Frankie” on the surrogacy journey.

If you know of any more (I am sure there are many, many others please share them.

Categories: Surrogacy Tags:

VARTA – Victorian Altruistic Surrogacy Forum – 8 September 2010

July 6th, 2010 rodneycruise No comments

The Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (VARTA) is holding a "Twilight" Seminar on the topic of "SURROGACY IN VICTORIA" on 8 September 2010.  It will be very useful for any single or gay couples thinking about doing Altruistic Surrogacy in Victoria. VARTA are keen to get gay men interested in surrogacy in Victoria to attend, so don’t be shy!. Details are as follows:

Twilight Seminar 2: Surrogacy in Victoria – Issues to Consider.

The next seminar in the Authority’s Twilight Seminar Series focuses on Surrogacy in Victoria – Issues to Consider and will be held on Wednesday 8 September 2010 from 5.30pm at Russell Kennedy in La Trobe Street, Melbourne.

It promises to be an interesting and informative evening. We will hear about the surrogacy journey from two different personal perspectives and an experienced family lawyer will discuss the legal implications of pursuing surrogacy in Victoria. The psychological aspects of surrogacy including essential ingredients for success and pitfalls to avoid will also be presented.

More information about the seminar including a registration form is available on the Authority’s website at www.varta.org.au.

I think the forms are not yet up on the website, but I am sure you can register if you give them a call.

Categories: Surrogacy Tags:

The Australian – “Birth of a booming baby industry” by Amanda Hodge

June 26th, 2010 rodneycruise No comments

THOUSANDS of foreigners are travelling to India in an attempt to conceive a child.

AFTER six miscarriages, years of failed in-vitro fertilisation treatments and endless queues at Australian and international adoption agencies, Megan Sorensen is finally expecting a baby this week, at age 43.

Like an anxious father-to-be, Sorensen (not her real name) will pace the corridors of New Delhi’s Phoenix Hospital while a woman she met six days ago and knows only as Rani goes through childbirth for her.

Once delivered, the baby will almost immediately be handed over to Sorensen. And Rani, when she has recovered from her labour, will return to her own flat, her husband and two children.

In New Delhi the same process will be repeated several dozen times over for Australian couples before the year is out. Childless Australian couples — heterosexual and gay — are looking to Indian women who are prepared to rent out their wombs for the chance to improve the lives and fortunes of their own families.

Delhi fertility specialist Shivani Sachdev Gour says she has seen an explosion of Australian clients as word of her service has spread through the community of couples exploring surrogacy options.

Since the first Australian couple walked through the door of her low-key clinic last year, she now sees at least 10 new Australians every month who have travelled to India — many of them for the first time — in a last-ditch effort to conceive a child.

"Of 100 surrogates on my books, 55 are pregnant and more than 50 per cent of those children will be born Australian babies," Gour says. "Most of the [commissioning parents] have done IVF in Australia and been advised by their specialists that surrogacy is their best option."

Her first successful Australian birth came just three weeks ago, to a single man who came to India for two days of treatment, gave a sperm sample on the day the donor eggs were collected, and nine months later collected his baby.

Unlike some Indian fertility specialists, Gour says helping aspiring single or gay parents conceive a child poses no ethical dilemmas for her. She’s vehement when confronted with the criticism that using a poor, often ill-educated woman to incubate a wealthy woman’s child amounts to exploitation. "Just because the [surrogate] is poor it doesn’t mean she’s not allowed to make her own decisions," she says. "The Supreme Court of India says surrogacy is an industry."

Indeed it is. More than 100 operators turned over an estimated $US445 million ($514m) last year.

But, for some, India’s reputation as the world’s baby factory for foreign women unable, or unwilling, to pay Western surrogate fees is a grotesque commercialisation of the reproductive system.

Sorensen has heard all the arguments before. "People say really nasty things, that we’re selfish for wanting our own child," she says. "What really gets me is when they accuse us of going to India to buy a baby like it’s an easy process. It’s not." She calculates the whole process — including one failed effort and one miscarriage — will have cost more than $90,000 by the time their baby is delivered. Of that, Rani will receive $5000.

While thousands of foreign children have been delivered by Indians without incident, several cases — including the death of a surrogate during childbirth last year — have scarred the industry. The woman, a second wife, was pressured by her husband to become a surrogate to earn more money for the family. And in 2008 the industry faced a scandal when a Japanese couple broke up before their child was born, leaving the baby in danger of becoming India’s first surrogate orphan.

India’s minister for women and child development Renuka Chowdhury warned two years ago: "We do not want surrogacy to become unfettered like the organ trade. We need to put a regulatory authority in place."

Draft legislation governing the entire assisted reproductive industry — IVF, sperm and egg donations and surrogacy — is to be debated in parliament within months. If passed, it will legalise surrogacy services for couples and single people and provide a loophole for gay couples by allowing one partner to register as a single parent on the birth certificate.

Surrogacy clinics will be forbidden from recruiting and acting for surrogate mothers, who will instead be represented by a third party. The law also will forbid a commercial surrogate from carrying more than five babies in her lifetime, including her own.

Australian law further stipulates that a child born overseas of a surrogate mother must have a DNA link to at least one of the commissioning parents.

Gautam Allahbadia, who helped draft the bill, says he expects it to pass with little trouble after five years of debate and amendments.

The Mumbai-based fertility specialist says India is an ideal surrogacy destination; Indian women rarely drink or smoke and the country offers "First World medical services at Third World prices".

But National Federation of Indian Women president Annie Raja fears the new law will lead to the exploitation of more poor and lower caste women. "This country has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates. Nobody is thinking about the mental or physical health of these women. It’s all about money," she says.

At Gour’s clinic money seems the furthest thing from Sorensen’s mind as she clucks over her young surrogate. Sorensen is ebullient and awestruck. Rani seems overwhelmed. Both women are close to tears. Through a translator Rani says she is "a little nervous" about the labour and concedes giving up the baby she has carried for 37 weeks, but has no biological link to, will probably be painful.

But she says: "It’s a few hours of sadness for me and a lifetime of happiness for Sorensen."

Asked if she would do it again she doesn’t hesitate; "One hundred per cent."

But she looks uncomfortable when asked to explain how being a surrogate will improve her family’s fortunes. For 10 months Rani has had a driver, maid and food delivery service, her rent and all family medical bills paid. When the baby is delivered she will receive 200,000 rupees ($4981), one-tenth the price of the most cut-rate US surrogate. For many Indian surrogate mothers all the attention that comes with carrying a wealthy woman’s baby ends soon after the child is delivered. But Sorensen says she is determined to make a difference to Rani’s life by helping her buy a home and paying for her children’s education. "I feel very maternal towards Rani," she says. "She’s part of our baby-making team."

[Source: Original Article]

Categories: India, Surrogacy Tags:

SMH – “Thinking men and women need clear conscience on gay adoption“ by Lisa Prior

June 26th, 2010 rodneycruise No comments

A sensible and well balanced piece by Lisa Prior in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age today.  A copy of the NSW Adoption Bill is available

.

Those gays are after the children again. On Thursday Clover Moore introduced a bill into Parliament which would allow same-sex couples to adopt. Both major parties will allow their members a conscience vote on the issue after the winter break. And it is indeed a matter of conscience.

In a parliamentary inquiry conducted last year, a majority found that the Adoption Act should be amended to allow gay couples to adopt. Faith-based adoption agencies would still have the right to exclude prospective parents who are gay, so long as they refer them to an agency which will assist.

This follows the lead of Western Australia and the ACT which already give gay couples equal access to the adoption process. Even in Tasmania gay couples can adopt a child related to one of them. In every state gay couples can foster.

Reform is opposed by church adoption agencies and many church groups. Trawling through the submissions to the parliamentary inquiry yesterday, I felt awe at the special kind of faith of some of the groups standing in judgment of gay families, making accusations about promiscuity, abuse, violence and communicable disease.

These flimsy and alarmist accusations were rather ironic coming from organisations which have been implicated in well-documented systemic abuse relating specifically to adoption and foster care, such as the mistreatment of child migrants, the stolen generations and the removal of babies from young mothers without proper consent.

Stereotyping all religious people because of the sins of a few is no better than stereotyping all gay people. Instead let’s consider the facts.

Adoption is not what it used to be. The scenario of the teen mother relinquishing her newborn is pretty much a thing of the past. Here are the statistics about adoption cited in the inquiry, statistics which are scary for anyone whose baby-making fall back plan is: ”It’s OK. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just adopt.”

”In 2007-08 … 125 adoption orders were finalised in NSW. Of those adoptions, 73 were inter-country. Of the remaining 52 local adoptions, 15 were unknown and 37 were known. Known adoptions for this period [comprised] 10 step-parent, 22 foster carer, three other relatives and two special case adoptions.”

In other words, most local adoptions involve children who already have a relationship with a carer, and adoption is about making that relationship permanent and secure.

The bill introduced this week is mostly about allowing gay foster parents, and gay step-parents, to provide the children in their care with stability and protection of permanent adoption.

It is also about providing children with the benefits of having two parents. As Moore noted on Thursday: ”Currently a child can’t be adopted by their parent’s same-sex partner yet can be adopted by their parent’s heterosexual partner,” she said. ”Unlike heterosexual couples, same-sex couples can’t adopt a child together – one parent must adopt as an individual and the other has no legal standing as the co-parent, leaving their child in legal limbo.”

Interestingly, one of the agencies in favour of allowing gay adoption is Barnardos. It specialises in the difficult side of fostering and adoption, often involving older children who have been victims of abuse and neglect.

As it said in its submission to the inquiry, it facilitates fostering by gay couples: ”Barnardos currently has seven children placed with two gay and two lesbian couples, all of whom have a care plan of adoption. The carers have provided excellent parenting for these children, all of whom have made pleasing and significant progress in areas of their physical, social and emotional development and who have developed a secure and positive attachment to each of their carers.”

So much for the cliche about flippant gays wanting designer babies as fashion accessories, a cliche repeated this year when the former US presidential candidate Mike Huckabee argued against gay adoption by saying ”children are not puppies”.

When it comes to voting on this legislation, the real issue facing our elected representatives is whether it is conscionable to try to send some vague message about preferred family structure by making the lives of children living in gay families more difficult and less secure. And this truly is a matter of conscience.

[Source: Original Article]

Categories: Adoption, Surrogacy Tags:

Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Blog – “Qld Surrogacy Laws Start Tuesday” by Stephen Page

May 29th, 2010 rodneycruise No comments

Stephen Page, my favourite blogger on all things legal and GLBTI has published some notes on the new Surrogacy laws that come into force this week in Queensland.  Visit his blog at Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Blog.

Queensland’s Surrogacy Act 2010 starts Tuesday. The latest of the states to legalise altruistic surrogacy, the Queensland scheme has a number of unique features:

  • the starting point is that altruistic surrogacy from Tuesday will be legalised. Until Tuesday, to have engaged in altruistic surrogacy in Queensland has been an offence. Whilst there has been some doubt about the Tasmanian laws, Queensland seemed alone in criminalising all forms of surrogacy.
  • the odd position of State boundaries remains. Only Queenslanders will be able to access the Queensland scheme. This is because the ability to obtain orders for intended parents can only be accessed by Queenslanders. This in turn will probably limit the use by IVF clinics of to whom they offer their services. Conversely, there is no limit in NSW, but there is no ability in NSW to have intended parent orders, as adoption is the only option (and adoption is not available to all).
  • Queensland continues to ban commercial surrogacy. It is an offence to engage in commercial surrogacy in Queensland. This criminalisation not only affects the doctors and nurses, but the intended surrogate and the intended parents, too.
  • Queensland couples who have gone to an overseas commercial surrogacy clinic and returned with a baby will (with some  exceptions) still need to obtain a Re Mark order from the Family Court recognising that both parents can make parental decisions. These are not hard to get, if done properly. There are some tricks of the trade to ensure that they are obtained in as straightforward and cheap manner as possible. Adoption for these couples is unlikely to be possible under Queensland’s scheme.

Read more…

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Wrap Up – The 5th Surrogacy for Gay Men forum – Prahran, Victoria, Australia

May 23rd, 2010 rodneycruise No comments

Well the 5th Surrogacy for Gay Men forum is over and we think it was a great success.  Overall there were 85 people in attendance, not including the children, so it was a great turn out.  We hope that those who came got something useful out the forum and hopefully made some new friendships as well.   The forum can’t possibly cover everything but we hope that it will help you in some way on your journey to becoming dads.  It was also great to see so many dads and dads to be join us at the Prahran Market afterwards. 

GAYDADS_SS80_4H

There is a lot of work that goes into putting these forums on and I would like to take the opportunity to personally thank each of the people who helped in making the forum a success.

Doug and Brett, Jason and Brendan, Mark and Allan, Lee and Tony, Noam and David, Eilis – A huge thank you for your time, effort and contribution today.  Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience.  You guys are really wonderful. 

A special thank you to my hubby Jeff for all the baking and catering and keeping our son occupied.  You do so much behind the scenes.

Also a big shout out to Southern Star, ALSO, JOY 94.9 and Rainbow Families Council for all the assistance and support.

It is really exciting to see the next generation of gay dads.  It makes all the work that goes into events like this worth it.

Rainbow Families and Who is in your family? Resource Kit

Who is in your family poster

Rainbow Families Council proudly presents the “Who is in your family?” resource kit. Rainbow Families Council developed these resources through surveys conducted with families and childcare workers in the City of Darebin and neighboring suburbs during 2009. Development funding was provided by the City of Darebin.

Officially launched at our February 2010 conference by the City of Darebin Mayor Cr Vince Fontana, we have re-launched the entire kit online to coincide with the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17.

The posters and information sheets are now available for you to download below. You can order FREE full colour A3 copies of the two posters from Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria (GLHV) by emailing info@glhv.org.au

This resource kit aims to help children, families and early childhood educators start discussions about the diversity of families – including same-sex parented families – who are part of their communities.

It comprises of two A3 posters and four A4 information sheets, including one specifically for parents to help them choose a rainbow family-friendly childcare centre or kindergarten.

  • Poster 1 ‘Who is in your family? Our families come in all different shapes and sizes’ (with animal families)
  • Poster 2 ‘Who is in your family? Our families come in all different shapes and sizes’ (with diverse human families)
  • Info sheet 1 ‘Introducing rainbow families – a guide for early childhood services’
  • Info sheet 2 ‘Creating inclusive children’s spaces’
  • Info sheet 3 ‘How children play: challenging myths and stereotypes’
  • Info sheet 4 ‘Tips for choosing a rainbow-family friendly childcare centre or kindergarten’
Categories: Surrogacy Tags:

Hindustan Times – “Gay Couples may not be allowed to hire surrogates in country” by Neha Bhayana

May 12th, 2010 rodneycruise No comments

But if the draft bill to regulate surrogacy becomes law, gay couples like them may not be allowed to hire surrogates in India. The draft legislation, Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bills and Rules, 2008, states that only couples that are living together and in a sexual relationship that is “legal” are permitted surrogacy to have children.

In July 2009, the Delhi High Court had decriminalised homosexuality by overturning a section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. But homosexual relationships are still not legally recognised in India, leaving the status of same-sex relationships ambiguous.

Several petitions filed to challenge the Delhi High Court verdict are pending before the Supreme Court. “Gay or lesbian couples will be allowed to have children through surrogacy only if the Indian law recognises homosexual relationships at the time when the bill is passed,” said Dr R.S. Sharma, deputy director general of the Indian Council for Medical Research. Considering India has emerged as preferred destination for surrogacy, the proposed law could dishearten gay couples who plan to come to India for children. Infertility clinics in Mumbai have helped many gay couples, mostly from US and Australia, have children through surrogates.

It is not clear whether homosexuals will be able to go for surrogacy as individuals. The proposed legislation allows single women to have children through surrogacy but they are silent about single men. “It will be important for the new law to address the issue about single parents and defining the role of doctors and compensation given to surrogates,” said Amit Karkhanis, a lawyer who has handled over 180 surrogacy cases.

An expert committee is revising the draft bill based on the comments by the central health ministry. “We will complete the process within a week and send the draft back to the ministry,” said Dr Sharma.

[Source: Original Article]

Categories: India, Surrogacy Tags: