The ACT Government is introducing new legislation to help aspiring parents have children who for many reasons may be unable to conceive and carry a child themselves.
Minister for Human Rights Tara Cheyne said the Parentage (Surrogacy) Amendment Bill 2023 provides better clarity and certainty, together with adequate protection of the human rights of children born through surrogacy arrangements.
“These new laws will set clear rules for surrogacy agreements, ensuring everyone involved knows what to expect whilst also protecting the rights of surrogates and children,” said Minister Cheyne.
“It will mandate legal advice, counselling, a written agreement before conception, and age criteria for surrogates, while respecting their pregnancy and birth rights.
“Importantly these changes will provide clarity and certainty as well as ensure adequate protection of the human rights of children born of surrogacy, surrogates and intended parents.”
This new legislation has clearly defined objectives and aims to provide more opportunities for people who may have had difficulty in starting a family including:
- better aligning ACT’s surrogacy laws with other Australian jurisdictions,
- improving access to altruistic surrogacy in the ACT,
- strengthening requirements for altruistic surrogacy arrangements in the ACT, and
- establishing a structured framework to provide more certainty for parties entering surrogacy arrangement
In line with these principles, the changes will remove the requirements that one intended parent be a genetic parent of the child and will allow traditional surrogacy, where the surrogate is the genetic parent of the child.
This means that couples where both parties may experience infertility will be able to use surrogacy arrangements, and there will be flexibility for an altruistic surrogate to conceive a child using their own egg.
The Bill will also remove current legislative barriers for single people who want to access surrogacy arrangements.
The Bill sets clear rules for surrogacy agreements, ensuring everyone involved knows what to expect whilst also protecting the rights of surrogates and children.
It will require surrogates to be 25 years or older (or over 18 if a counsellor is satisfied that the surrogate has sufficient maturity and understanding).
The Bill will remove restrictions on advertising and procuring altruistic surrogacy arrangements, to make it easier for intended parents to connect with potential surrogates. It will also remove requirements that a procedure occur in the ACT to give people more choice about accessing services.
Commercial surrogacy remains illegal. Under special circumstances, the Bill will allow the Supreme Court to grant parentage orders for children born through commercial surrogacy, if a child is facing a pressing disadvantage. This provision acknowledges the child’s rights and aims to ensure that children living in the ACT are not disadvantaged due to the circumstances of their birth.
