Gay Dads Australia

Gay Dads Victoria will hold one of its biggest information forums yet in Melbourne next week for gay men interested in starting a family.

Gay Dads Victoria convenor Rodney Chaing-Cruise told Southern Star numbers have been building steadily over the last few years.

“We’ve already got 60 people registered so far,” he said. “It’s our fifth forum in four years and there’s been a fairly steady jump each year, but this is certainly the biggest forum we’ve held.”

The event is on Saturday, May 22 from 10am-1pm in Prahran and will cover local, US and Indian surrogacy options.

Gay Dads Victoria is one of the only organised groups in the nation providing up-to-date information on gay surrogacy. Chaing-Cruise said India is the burning question on everyone’s lips.

“India has become more affordable, so people who previously didn’t have the option of surrogacy financially … can afford the Indian option,” he said.

“About two years ago about 10 percent were using India and about 90 percent were going through the US. Now it’s 50 percent US, 50 percent India.”

Currently there are concerns that the Indian surrogacy market may close its doors to singles and gay couples, as the Indian government moves to regulate its IVF industry.

Chaing-Cruise said he doesn’t expect the surrogacy laws to pass this year.

However, he said it’s possible agencies could adopt provisions — like only allowing access to married or heterosexual couples — before any laws are passed.

Phil Copeland, 38 and his partner Sam Everingham, 42, who are expecting twins from a surrogate in India, told Southern Star their Indian surrogacy agency had no issues with their sexuality.

The pair have taken five years to start their family, after first looking at adoption and fostering.
“Adoption wasn’t going to happen in Australia … and then we looked at fostering and we went through the whole fostering course … but I had real issues with the co-parenting side of that,” Copeland said.

“Sharing the child with the parents, I just couldn’t deal with someone else telling us how to raise the child.”

Copeland and Everingham said Gay Dads Victoria was instrumental in providing the information they needed to go through the surrogacy process.

“We visited some other couples and found out how they did it … and just talked to them to see what they were doing,” Copeland said.

info: Email Rodney Chaing-Cruise at
info@gaydadsaustralia.com to
register your interest.

[Source: Original Article]

AFTER years of legal confusion, couples who use a surrogate mother in NSW will be able to get legal recognition of their status as parents in state courts.

NSW will finally go ahead with planned surrogacy laws after a meeting of state and territory attorneys-general approved national principles yesterday.

The proposed laws are expected to clarify the difference between commercial surrogacy (which will remain illegal) and reasonable payments that can be made to an altruistic surrogate mother for her expenses in having a child.

They will also allow state courts to grant a parentage order that recognise couples as the parents of children born by surrogates, provided the court believes it is in the child’s best interests, the child is living with the parents and surrogacy was agreed before conception. It will also be necessary for all parties to have received legal advice and counselling and to have given informed consent to the arrangement.

In the past, parents of surrogate children have had to go to the family court seeking parenting orders that recognise their status. But they have battled federal laws that assume the surrogate mother is the child’s true mother and her partner is the father, even when he has no relationship with the child.

They have also been hampered by the state adoption laws.

David Norman – who with his wife, Denise, is the father of Emily, born to a surrogate mother – told an upper house inquiry in NSW that they would have to wait until she is five to adopt her and give her their name.

The states have been moved to act by the story of the Federal minister Stephen Conroy and his wife, Paula Benson, who had to leave Victoria, where surrogacy was essentially illegal, to enter into an agreement with a friend in NSW, later returning to Victoria with their daughter, Isabella, in 2006 and adopting her at a cost of $50,000.

Victoria has since changed its laws.

It was not clear last night whether other states and territories would amend their laws, but the NSW Attorney-General, John Hatzistergos, said they would be taken into account in NSW.

[Source: Original Article]

NEW DELHI: Most new parents expect to take their baby home after a few days but a German couple, Jan Balaz and Susan Lohle, are still waiting after more than two years.

Their twin sons, Nikolas and Leonard, have been trapped in citizenship limbo ever since an Indian surrogate mother gave birth to them in February 2008.

The boys were refused passports by their parents’ homeland because German nationality is determined by the birth mother.

That left the slow-moving Indian judicial system to wrestle with their citizenship status. The case has now reached the country’s highest court.

Lawyers say a Supreme Court hearing in New Delhi on Monday could be crucial in deciding whether Mr Balaz and Ms Lohle will finally be allowed to take the twins back to Germany.

India’s reproductive tourism industry is booming thanks to low-cost surrogate mothers, inexpensive medical services and lax regulation.

It is likely that hundreds of infertile couples from the West hire Indian surrogates each year. But Nikolas and Leonard show that things can go badly wrong.

Read more…

If the parents of newborn Noah Allen-Drury are lucky, their son will sleep through the noise as their flight from India lands in Sydney this morning.

Noah’s gay parents, however, are aware of legal turbulence that could prohibit the surrogacy arrangements that fulfilled their wish for a child.

A growing number of male couples from Australia and other Western countries are hiring surrogates in India to bear children, but that might no longer be possible if a draft bill to regulate IVF in India becomes law.

R.S. Sharma, the secretary of the committee writing a bill to govern assisted reproductive technology (ART), told the Heraldthat unless gay and lesbian relationships are legalised in India, gay couples would be excluded from hiring surrogates.

Delhi’s High Court recently overturned a 150-year-old section of the country’s penal code that outlawed ”carnal intercourse against the order of nature”.

However, gay activists warn this ruling, which in effect decriminalised sodomy, does not legalise gay relationships, leaving the status of such relationships unclear.

"If our government does not permit gay relationships, then it certainly will not be permitted for foreign gay couples to come to this country and have a [surrogacy] agreement," said Dr Sharma, who is the deputy director-general of the reproductive health and nutrition division at the India Council of Medical Research.

Read more…

When: Saturday 22 May 2010 from 10.00 A.M. TO 1:00 P.M.

Many Gay men are now becoming Dads via surrogacy. There are Surrogacy Agencies in the United States, Canada and India all helping Australian Gay men become fathers.  Altruistic Surrogacy is also now legal in Victoria and some other states of Australia.  This forum with be the fifth held in Melbourne and will be presented by members from Gay Dads Victoria. The free forum will be held in Prahran and provide an opportunity for gay men to find out more about Surrogacy and the options available in Australia and other countries.

Over the years the forum has been the start of the journey to parenthood for many gay men (myself being one of them!).  This is a great opportunity for interested gay singles or couples to have some of their questions answered:

- how does surrogacy work

- how do the surrogacy laws work in the US, Canada, India and Australia

- how do I bring my child back in to Australia

- can anyone do it

- how much does it cost

This will also be an opportunity to meet other Surro Dads and Dads to be and learn more about their journeys.

Doug and Rodney Chiang-Cruise are current preparing a program for the Forum and this will be available soon. For more information or to register your interest in attending, please contact Rodney Chiang-Cruise at info@gaydadsaustralia.com

Childless couples who acquire a baby using a surrogate mother abroad risk not being recognised as its parents in Britain if they flout British law by paying fees, fertility lawyers have warned.

Such payments, which can be as high as £30,000, could lead to those who have made them being refused permission by the high court to become the child’s legal parents, specialist solicitors say.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 allows couples entering into deals with a surrogate mother overseas to pay her only what is allowed here – "expenses reasonably incurred", such as compensation for time off work, medical bills and living expenses.

But lawyers handling such cases have told the Guardian a growing number of couples are embarking on international surrogacy in places such as India, the US and Ukraine, and that many of them are in effect flouting the law by paying whatever is needed to get a child. This could cause serious problems for them and the children as the high court may not grant a parental order.

"The risk couples face if they pay a disproportionate amount in expenses is that the high court may refuse to authorise those expenses. That could result in the parental order application failing and in turn they would have no status as parents under English law," said John Randle, a leading surrogacy lawyer.

Read more…

This is not a specifically Australian related story relating to same-sex parenting, but it is relevant for surrogacy dads with a UK background.  Read on….

Changes to legislation will recognise growing trend for same-sex couples to become parents, say campaigners:

Gay male couples will be able to use a fast-track route to become the legal parents of surrogate children from next week. On 6 April, changes to the law will permit two men to be named as parents on a child’s birth certificate for the first time in British history.

The transition will take effect following the implementation of the final piece of the 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. This last section is aimed at helping same-sex and unmarried couples who seek to have surrogate children and will allow them to secure legal parenthood in a new, simplified manner. At present, only married, heterosexual couples can use this route.

“These changes bring the law up to date with the realities of modern 21st-century life and recognise that increasing numbers of same-sex and unmarried couples are having children together,” said Natalie Gamble, of the fertility law firm Gamble and Ghevaert.

Surrogacy has become increasingly common and offers couples an alternative route to parenthood if all other methods, including IVF treatments, fail. Current legislation allows heterosexual, married couples to get a parental order to give them a birth certificate for a child born to a mother with whom they have entered into a surrogacy agreement. But gay, lesbian and unmarried couples cannot do this. The surrogate mother has to be named on the birth certificate. If she is married, her husband is legally considered to be the father.

Read more…

This is excellent news for HIV positive Gay and Lesbian Australians wanting to have children.  I am sure Growing Generations is not the only agency offering this service, but it is certainly the only one I am aware of.

Babies Born to HIV-Positive Growing Generations Surrogacy Clients to Double in 2010
Obama Administration’s Lifting of Restrictions on Visas for HIV-Positive Foreigners Opens Program to International Clients

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ — The nation’s largest surrogacy agency announced today that the number of babies born to HIV-positive clients is expected to more than double in 2010 as its program for HIV-positive men using their own sperm to create embryos continues to expand in the U.S. and abroad.  In 2009, Growing Generations had 5 babies born to HIV-positive parents working with surrogates and in 2010 more than 10 babies are expected.

"It is so amazing for us to see these babies being born to loving, healthy parents who have dreamed of this opportunity for years," said Growing Generations CEO Stuart Miller.  "As the first agency to create a program specifically for clients with HIV, our expertise and guidance of this process is unparalleled."

Participants in Growing Generations’ HIV program go through the same process as other clients with the addition of an extensive health screening and preparation process for the sperm which virtually eliminates any risk of exposure to the surrogate or embryo.  Many men with HIV show no material trace of the virus in their semen.  The sperm preparation process has been used for more than a decade in non-surrogacy related pregnancies and, as is the case with all of Growing Generations surrogates and babies, no one has become infected with HIV.

The program is now available not only to citizens of the U.S. but to international clients as well due to the Obama administration’s lifting of the restriction on visas for HIV-positive foreigners.  In January of this year, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed HIV infection from the list of diseases that prevent non-U.S. citizens from entering the country.

"We are extremely pleased that the Obama administration has removed a restriction that should have been removed a long time ago," added Miller.  "Our company has always been at the forefront of fighting against discrimination and our ability to now serve clients with HIV from around the world is something we are very proud of.  We anticipate that as people with HIV learn of this opportunity, we will continue to see more of them choose surrogacy as their family building option." 

To learn more about Growing Generations, please visit www.growinggenerations.com.
About Growing Generations, LLC

Since 1996, Growing Generations has been a company passionately dedicated to the vision of creating life and, in the process, changing the world. Founded by gay and lesbian parents, our mission is simple — to build families of choice for communities around the globe through surrogacy, egg donation, and sperm donation.
SOURCE Growing Generations
RELATED LINKS
http://www.growinggenerations.com

A push to decriminalise altruistic surrogacy in Queensland should not exclude same-sex couples, the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities says.

Queensland MPs will get a conscience vote on Wednesday about whether to follow other states and decriminalise altruistic surrogacy, where a woman has another couple’s child for no payment.

Under the proposed reforms, legal parentage of a child born under such an agreement would be transferred from the birth mother to the parent, or parents, who commissioned the birth.

The association, which promotes the health and wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Queenslanders, called on MPs to support making non-commercial surrogacy legal for all.

MPs should also agree to legally recognise both parents in same-sex headed families, it says.

"The only test of parenthood should be whether a loving, nurturing and safe environment can be provided for the child, not the gender of the parents," the association’s general manager Paul Martin said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Numerous studies from Australia and around the world show that children raised by same-sex couples develop equally as well as those raised by opposite sex couples.

"We call on all members of parliament to be respectful in the debate today."

The opposition is adamant that same-sex couples and single parents must be excluded from any reforms to surrogacy arrangements.

Some church and family groups agree, saying the reforms, as they’re currently proposed, will threaten the traditional family model and normalise same-sex parenting.

Queensland is the only Australian state in which altruistic surrogacy is a criminal offence, punishable by a $10,000 fine or three years’ imprisonment.

Commercial surrogacy will remain illegal under the bill.

[Source: Original Article]

CONTROVERSIAL laws giving same-sex couples and sole parents the right to have a child through surrogacy are set to divide State Parliament in a landmark debate today.

Queensland’s 89 MPs will get a rare conscience vote on whether to legalise altruistic surrogacy in Queensland and allow the legal parentage of a child to be transferred from the birth mother to its intending parents. But church and family groups were last night urging the State’s 89 MPs to scuttle the Bill, angry it will allow gay couples and single parents to access surrogacy.

Family Council of Queensland president Alan Baker called the Bill "a trojan horse for the normalisation of same-sex parenting", saying it established in law "the absurd proposition that two men or two women are the same as a mother and father."

He accused the Government of "trampling on the rights of children".

The Opposition is also angry the Government has tied the issue of surrogacy to gay parenting and has introduced its own Bill that, if passed, would restrict altruistic surrogacy to heterosexual married and de facto couples.

"The Government banned same-sex and singles from adopting . . . why is it different for surrogacy?" Liberal National Party deputy leader Lawrence Springborg said.

But gay and lesbian rights organisations have waged their own campaign, urging Parliament to pass the laws.

Queensland Association for Healthy Communities general manager Paul Martin said: "Lesbian and gay people are already having children … what this legislation brings is certainty and clarity for same-sex parents and their children."

The LNP’s 34 MPs are expected to toe the party line and vote against the Government while getting a conscience vote on their own Bill.

Only two Labor MPs – Margaret Keech and Michael Choi – have expressed concerns about the Government’s position, making it unlikely the laws will be blocked.

[Source: Original Article]

A Christian lobby group says surrogacy should be a last resort for infertile married couples, not a solution for gay and lesbian couples who want children.

The Australian Christian Lobby has called on Queensland MPs to amend or reject a new bill to decriminalise altruistic surrogacy, where a woman carries another couple’s child for no payment.

Heated debate is expected in parliament as MPs debate the issue this week, with the opposition hoping to restrict access for same-sex couples.

The ACL says children are not pets and should not simply be given to anyone who wants one.

ACL managing director Jim Wallace says the surrogacy bill should have been directed at permitting surrogacy as a last resort for infertile married couples.

Instead it represents a piece of radical social engineering which will alter the natural make-up of the family by permitting single adults and same-sex couples to have children via surrogacy, he said.

Read more…

Stephen Page, my absolute favourite Gay/Lesbian Legal Blogger has been busy and put together the following summary of Surrogacy laws in each state and territory.  Stephen is a prolific blogger and tweeter….and Gays and Lesbians in Australia are better for his sterling efforts.  Once again, check out his summary below or here.

Each Australian state and territory has its own rules as to surrogacy. Currently all the states, territories, Commonwealth and New Zealand governments are considering reviewing arrangements as to surrogacy, so that all laws are consistent with 15 principles. Those principles are currently secret.

All the states and territories are opposed to commercial surrogacy arrangements. There are no commercial surrogacy clinics in Australia.Australians travel overseas for commerical surrogacy arrangements. Commercial arrangements overseas can lead to complications. The states have moved or are moving to allow altruistic surrogacy.

When a court order for transfer of parentage is made, as it can be in Victoria, the ACT and WA, that order is recognised under the Family Law Act, theChild Support (Assessment) Act and the Australian Citizenship Act. A foreign order may not be recognised under those Acts.

Queensland
Legislation: Surrogate Parenthood Act 1988
Is commercial surrogacy allowed?
No. It is a criminal offence for any commercial surrogacy arrangment to be entered into in Queensland. It is also a criminal offence for a person ordinarily resident in Queensland to enter into a commercial surrogacy arrnangment anywhere in the world.
Is altruistic surrogacy allowed?
No. The same rules that apply to commercial surrogacy apply to altruistic surrogacy.
Are there any proposed changes?
Yes. Following the Parliamentary Committee’s inquiry into altruistic surrogacy, the Bligh government announced that altruistic surrogacy would be decriminalised. There are now two bills: the Government’s  and the Opposition’s. They are identical, except in two respects. Both propose to allow altruistic surrogacy in Queensland for Queenslanders.  The key features are:

• traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy would be allowed
• altruistic surrogacy would be allowed
• surrogacy agreements would not be enforceable
• there would be a transfer of legal parentage
• resident parents must reside in Queensland
• commercial surrogacy would remain a criminal offence- both in Queensland and by those ordinarily resident in Queensland throughout the world.

Where they don’t agree:

• the Government’s bill proposes to cover single people and same sex relationships, as well as married and heterosexual de facto couples; and
• would also recognise lesbian co-mothers as parents on birth certificates; but
• the Opposition’s bill excludes single people, those in same sex relationships, and those in heterosexual de facto relationships that are less than 2 years; and
• excludes lesbian co-mothers from being recognised.

The Government has allowed a conscience vote. We shall see how it develops.

New South Wales
Legislation: Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2007
Is commercial surrogacy allowed?
No. It is an offence. It is not an offence for a NSW resident to arrange a commercial surrogacy outside NSW.
Is altruistic surrogacy allowed?
Yes, but other than the regulation of IVF clinics it is not regulated.
Can legal parentage be transferred?
No – other than through adoption. Generally the ability to transfer parentage is seen as a preferable approach. If unable to transfer, then the usual complications arise as to prior parentage, such as child support.
Are surrogacy agreements binding?
No. They are void.
Who is covered?
Everyone. As altruistic surrogacy arrangements are not specifically regulated, therefore everyone has coverage: married and de facto couples, same sex couples and singles.
Do the intended parents have to live in NSW?
No.

Australian Capital Territory
Legislation: Parentage Act 2004
Is commercial surrogacy allowed?
No. It is an offence. Like Queensland, it is also an offence for an ACT resident to go anywhere in the world to obtain a commercial surrogacy.
Is altruistic surrogacy allowed?
Yes.
Can legal parentage be transferred?
Yes, but only to intended parents from the ACT.
Are surrogacy agreements binding?
No, but an agreement is required for a transfer of parentage.
Who  is covered?
Anyone, but: to have a transfer of parentage, it applies to couples only, not singles. Married, de facto and same sex couples are included.
Do the intended parents have to live in the ACT?
No, but there cannot be a transfer of parentage unless they do.

Victoria
Legislation: Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008
Status of Children Act 1974
Is commercial surrogacy allowed?
No. It is an offence. There is no international ban as there is in Queensland and the ACT.
Is altruistic surrogacy allowed?
Yes.
Can legal parentage be transferred?
Yes.
Are surrogacy agreements binding?
Unlikely.
Who is covered?
Everyone: married couples, de facto and same sex couples and singles

Tasmania
Legislation: Surrogacy Contracts Act 1993
Is commercial surrogacy allowed?
No. It is an offence. It is not an offence for Tasmanians to go overseas to commercial surrogacy clinics.
Is altruistic surrogacy allowed?
No. It is an offence.

South Australia
Legislation: Family Relationships Act 1975
Is commercial surrogacy allowed?
No. It is an offence. There is no restriction on South Australians attending overseas commercial surrogacy clinics.
Is altruistic surrogacy allowed?
No. It is declared illegal and void.
Are there any changes on the horizon?
Yes. The Statutes Amendment (Surrogacy) Act 2009 commences on 26 November, 2009. Its effect:

• commercial surrogacy remains illegal
• altruistic surrogacy is permitted, but there needs to be compliance with a recognised surrogacy agreement
• it is unlikely that agreements are binding
• coverage is limited to South Australian residents, who are married or in a heterosexual de facto relationship for 3 years
• the intended mother must be infertile or there is a risk of a genetic disease being passed on otherwise
• there appears to be some suggestion (although it is unclear) that the surrogate must be the mother, sister, step-sister or first cousin of one of the intended parents
• there can be transfer of legal parentage

Western Australia
Legislation: Surrogacy Act 2008
Is commercial surrogacy allowed?
No. It is not an offence to enter into a commercial surrogacy arrangement, but the clinic would be committing an offence. It is not an offence for a Western Australian to go to an overseas commercial surrogacy clinic.
Is altruistic surrogacy allowed?
Yes.
Can legal parentage be transferred?
Yes, but the intended parent or parents must be WA residents, and one or both must be at least 25.
Are surrogacy agreements binding?
Unlikely.
Who is covered?
Everyone, but: married, heterosexual and same sex de facto couples and singles can be intended parents, provided all are WA residents and one or both are 25 or older.

Northern Territory
Legislation: Nil
There appears to be no legislation in the NT covering surrogacy. It would not be an offence for a Territorian to attend an overseas commercial surrogacy clinic. The ability to adopt in the NT is restricted to married couples or Aboriginal traditional marriage couples, or single people in exceptional circumstances.
ART and IVF services in the Territory are only offered by South Australian doctors, who have to comply with South Australian guidelines. Therefore they do not offer surrogacy services. it is not know what might happen after 26 November, 2009.

[Source: Original Article]

The Australian Family Association (AFA) says Queensland government plans to allow gay couples to access altruistic surrogacy is not supported by the wider community.

Last week the State Government introduced the legislation which is expected to be debated next year.

A Galaxy Poll commissioned by the association reportedly indicates nine out of ten people believe children should be raised by a mother and father.

AFA Queensland Branch spokesman Michael Ord says traditional family unit should be preserved.

"The problem is that children have the best opportunities in life with a mother and a father," he said.

"Same sex couples can’t naturally have children … that relationship is not a natural relationship in the sense of being able to bring children into life in a natural way and that’s all about self-interest really and its not in the best interest of children to be in that situation."

The State Government has introduced legislation to legalise altruistic surrogacy.

The Opposition has introduced its own bill, but it outlaws surrogacy for homosexual couples.

Parliament has risen for the year and the bill won’t be debated until next year.

Attorney-General Cameron Dick has told Parliament commercial surrogacy will remain a criminal offence.

[Source: Original Article]

Commercial surrogacy, gay adoption – the modern brood is ever-evolving. But the rewards of family always remains the same. On the eve of Father’s Day, two same-sex couples share withSX the joys, and the challenges, of fatherhood.

RODNEY AND JEFF

Pictured: Rodney (left) with partner Jeff and son Ethan (centre).

Many Dads become fathers by accident. Not Rodney Chiang-Cruise. Chiang-Cruise, 43, planned his fatherhood to the nth degree, with his partner Jeff. The couple’s child, Ethan, was born two-and-a-half years ago via an egg donor and a commercial surrogate in the USA .

“That’s where I think there’s a significant difference between children with gay parents and kids with straight parents,” Chiang-Cruise tells SX. “It’s not unusual for a child who’s the product of a heterosexual union to be unplanned or even unwanted, but when it’s a same-sex couple it’s more difficult and challenging to have kids – so a lot of planning and expense goes into it.

“It’s not something that can happen by accident.”

Melbourne-based Chiang-Cruise feels strongly about the rights of gay men to have children – so much so that he’s a co-moderator of the Gay Dads Australia group (“400 members and rising quickly”) and co-chairs Victoria’s regular Surrogacy Forums, an event for gay men looking at surrogacy as an option to create their families.

Read more…

Review of the legal status of children being cared for by same-sex parents – August 2009

This is the paper from the Queensland Government on Surrogacy, and IVF issues and Same Sex parents, published yesterday.

Comments on the proposed changes to the parentage presumptions for same-sex
parents can be made before 18 September 2009:

• By email to: legalpolicysubmission@justice.qld.gov.au; or
• By writing to : Director, Strategic Policy, Department of Justice and

Attorney-General, GPO Box 149, Brisbane QLD 4001

This document is also available on the Department of Justice and Attorney-General
community consultation website: http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/33.htm

[Link: Original Document]

This article which appeared in today’s Australian illustrates the issues of who is the legal parent in the cases of Surrogacy.  It has particular relevance to same-sex parents.

A SYDNEY couple will have to apply to the NSW Supreme Court for permission to adopt their own son, after the Family Court found that, in the eyes of the law, he was not theirs.

Judge Garry Watts last week ruled that the boy’s biological mother — the woman who provided the egg and has raised him since birth — is legally his stepsister, while his biological father — who provided the sperm and has likewise raised him since birth, is legally his stepbrother-in-law.

The court ruled that the boy’s mother is the woman who carried him in her womb: that is, his grandmother. His father, at least in the legal sense, is his grandmother’s de facto, a man named Clive, who has no biological connection to him.

Justice Watts admitted that these results were "surprising" to all parties but came about because surrogacy law in NSW hadn’t kept pace with science.

The issue last made headlines in 2006, when Senator Stephen Conroy announced that he and his wife had travelled from Victoria to NSW to enter into a surrogacy arrangement with a host mother, using sperm from Senator Conroy and an egg donated by a family friend.

Read more…

A proposal that seeks to align state and federal surrogacy laws has been released for public consultation and submissions.

The paper titled, A Proposal for a National Model to harmonise regulation of Surrogacy was released by the National Standing Committee of Attorney Generals (SCAG) and the ministerial councils for Community Services and Health. GLBT activists have welcomed the move.

Corey Irlam, spokesperson for the Australian Coalition for Equality told MCV:

“We are cautiously optimistic that this provides an opportunity for the states to become equal and to update their laws to access surrogacy.

“Surrogacy is a state-based issue and the federal government has said they will acknowledge any state based surrogacy laws,” Irlam said.

The paper makes several recommendations that would benefit same-sex and heterosexual couples.

If the recommendations were successful, both partners in a gay male couple would be recognised as parents of the child.

Currently in Victoria, the non-biological partner in a gay couple is not seen as a legal parent.

“Without the ability for the non-biological parent to adopt as a second parent, gay men who are entering into a surrogacy arrangement will be unable to both be seen as the legal parents of the child,” Irlam said.

“The Victorian Law Reform Commission recommended that adoption would be addressed and the government have not acted upon this.”

Currently, the non-biological parent in a gay male couple has to apply for a parenting order from the Family Court to have any legal parenting rights.

Co-moderator of Gay Dads Australia Rodney Cruise told MCV parenting orders give non-biological fathers most of the rights as a parent.

“He can apply for a passport for the child, enrol the child in school and make medical decisions. It’s still not a full parent situation, but it’s the closest thing we have in Victoria.”

Cruise said lesbian couples have long been accessing parenting orders and gay men are following in their footsteps.

“Gay dads are exercising the same process and have had success, there has been no problems getting them.”

However, Cruise warned that obtaining a parenting order is an expensive course of action.

“It involves lawyers and that can be a costly process, whereas the Holy Grail for gay dads is what’s called second parent adoption, which would allow the non-biological father to adopt their partner’s biological child and become a full parent.

“With second parent adoption you are a parent for life, unlike a parenting order which only lasts till the child is 18. So this impacts on inheritance and other issues too.”

In December 2008 the Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) Bill narrowly passed. Part of the legislative reform will secure the non-biological parent in a lesbian couple to now be recognised as a legal parent.

“There was a recognition that we had to get lesbian families over the line first,” Cruise said.

“Without that parliament would not have considered two men as parents.

“The next logical step is for the community and government to get their head around gay males.”

Federal Attorney-General Robert McClellend said the laws should make it easier for surrogacy couples.

“The differing laws on this complex and sensitive issue often force prospective parents to enter another Australian state or territory to have surrogate children.” McClellend said.

[Link: Original Article]

LAWYERS and doctors involved in India’s giant fertility industry have warned couples hoping to pursue surrogacy in India that the process is risky because there is no comprehensive law covering the practice.

While surrogacy is legal in India, it is regulated only by guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research, and many industry participants say these guidelines have been left behind by the rapidly expanding surrogacy industry.

The Age reported on Saturday that about 30 Australian couples were pursuing surrogacy in India. A new Indian surrogacy law is being drafted but those involved say it may not be passed for some time.

Priya Hingorani, a prominent Delhi lawyer who is part of a ministerial committee reviewing the proposed laws, says the absence of a law means couples wanting to use surrogates in India might be vulnerable.

“They are taking a risk because some of the documents that they sign ensuring that the mother will hand over the child might not be deemed legal by the courts,” Ms Hingorani said. “They need to be very careful.”

She cites the case of a Canadian couple who paid for an Indian surrogate but the mother refused to give up the child after the birth. The case is now before a Delhi court.

Anand Kumar, who runs a fertility clinic and is a member of the expert committee drafting the new law, said tighter regulations were urgently needed.

“It’s a bit of a free-for-all at the moment and everyone seems to be doing what they wish,” Dr Kumar said.

“There is a possibility of new technologies being misused and there is cause for concern.” He could not say when the proposed law would be passed.

Many women’s groups in India have expressed concern about the surrogacy system, saying it leaves mothers and babies vulnerable to exploitation.

Ms Hingorani said it was possible the new law could introduce restrictions that might affect foreigners hoping to use surrogate mothers in India.

“I think it is going to be more difficult (after the law is passed),” she said.

India’s booming surrogacy industry is estimated to be worth more than $500 million a year.

According to the National Commission for Women, there are about 3000 clinics offering surrogacy services across India.

There were cases where surrogate mothers received as little as 25,000 rupees ($A780), the commission said.

Some of the potential complications associated with international surrogacy were highlighted last year by the case of Baby Manji, a child born to an Indian surrogate mother hired by a Japanese couple.

The couple divorced during the pregnancy and a subsequent legal wrangle left the baby in limbo for more than a month. An Indian court eventually granted custody to the child’s 74-year-old grandmother.

In Australia, the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General is reviewing surrogacy regulations, including the issue of Australian couples pursuing surrogacy in developing countries such as India.

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THE Australian Government is demanding a New Zealand surrogate mother pay child support for the baby she had for two gay Queensland men, amid accusations she abandoned it.

Her case has raised fears of financial clawbacks for other New Zealand surrogates, including an Auckland woman who is eight-months pregnant with a son to another gay Australian couple.

“She’s told the couple they have to sort it out as there’s no way she’s paying,” said the second surrogate, who declined to be named.

“The deal with them is ‘You guys sort out the legal stuff and the financial stuff.’ I hope this doesn’t happen to me but the boys will sort it out. It gets complicated with the guy thing.”

It is understood the one-year-old surrogate baby girl is being raised by the baby’s biological father and his male partner in Queensland, who are her legal guardians. They gained child support benefits for the father to stay home and care for her, as new parents are entitled to. However, authorities asked the surrogate to contribute, which she refused to do.

Unlike in New Zealand, surrogacy is illegal in Queensland and many parts of Australia.

Australian funding agencies Centrelink and the Child Support Agency confirmed they were likely to seek maintenance payments from a birth mother in New Zealand if the Australian birth father claimed benefits as a sole parent caring for their baby.

Family law expert Professor Mark Henaghan, dean of law at Otago University, said surrogates could be forced to pay child support on either side of the Tasman if their babies were not adopted and the intended parents claimed benefits. Gay male couples were unable to adopt in New Zealand and in most of Australia, which meant the surrogate mother’s name remained on birth certificates and prevented her signing away legal rights to the child, he said. Guardianship was insufficient to remove the birth mother’s legal duties.

“You can’t contract out of child support,” Professor Henaghan said.

“It’s a blanket rule. The circumstances are irrelevant. If you are a parent, unless someone adopts a child, you are the legal parent.”

According to the co-owner of the nz-surrogacy.com website, Amanda MacLeod, adoption occurred in about half the surrogacies in New Zealand and guardianship arrangements covered the rest. “As if surrogacy isn’t hard enough, the only choice you’ve got as a gay couple is to have surrogacy. There’s only one sort of box you have to fit into,” she said.

Under New Zealand’s 1955 Adoption Act, only married and single people are allowed to adopt. A single person can adopt regardless of sexual orientation but a single man is banned from adopting a girl unless under specific circumstances.

Professor Henaghan, a member of an adoption reform group which has lobbied for same-sex adoption and other adoption law changes, knew of only one case of a single gay man adopting a child in New Zealand and none trying to adopt a surrogate child. The act appeared to allow gay men to adopt a surrogate child, he said.

In September 2007, the New Zealand Family Court allowed an uncle to adopt his two-year-old nephew, whom he had raised since birth. At the time, the judge said it was the first case of a gay single man adopting.

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A move to harmonise state and commonwealth surrogate parenting laws is a step closer with the release of a national proposal for public consultation.

The national Standing Committee of Attorneys General (SCAG) and the ministerial councils for Community Services and Health released a paper on Sunday calling for submissions on national surrogacy regulation.

The paper, A proposal for a National Model to Harmonise Regulation of Surrogacy, makes a number of recommendations that would aid hetero and same-sex couples.

People who use a surrogate mother would be able to apply for legal recognition as the child’s parents and the differing state laws that affect same-sex surrogacy would be addressed.

Other regulations under review would include paying a surrogate mother’s medical costs, financial losses during and other expenses during pregnancy.

But commercial surrogacy would remain illegal in Australia, the paper recommends.

Other topics proposed include counselling and legal advice for all parties involved and if advertising would be allowed by couples, surrogate mothers and clinics involved in surrogacy.

Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the laws should makes it easier for surrogacy couples.

“The differing laws on this complex and sensitive issue often force prospective parents to enter another Australian state or territory to have surrogate children,” Mr McClelland said in a statement.

States and territories launched their own reviews last year with the intent of moving to a national regime.

NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said couples with surrogate children had faced challenges with accomplishing a number of basic processes related to a child’s upbringing.

“Laws in some jurisdictions make it difficult for parents to obtain a passport or a school enrolment for children born through surrogacy,” Mr Hatzistergos said in a statement.

NSW Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell supports a national regime but said the best home environment for children is with a mother and a father.

“I think all those issues need to be the subject of the inquiry (and) need to be the subject of community debate,” M O’Farrell told reporters in Sydney.

“But my view remains that children are best brought up in heterosexual households.

People interested in reviewing the paper can visit www.scag.org.au and click on “Current consultations”.

Information about how to make a submission is contained on page two of the document.

The deadline to make a submission is April 16.

A copy of the Paper (A PROPOSAL FOR A NATIONAL MODEL TO HARMONISE REGULATION OF SURROGACY – January 2009) can be found here.

[Link: Original Article]