Surrogacy Laws to Help WA Families
Western Australian families unable to have their own children will soon be able to have a baby through a surrogate mother, under new laws introduced into State Parliament.
Attorney General and Health Minister Jim McGinty said the Surrogacy Bill 2007 would help those women who could not to carry a child because of medical reasons.
?We want to give a helping hand to WA families who desperately want to have children but are unable to because of medical reasons,? Mr McGinty said.
?My heart goes out to those women who cannot carry their own children and want to fulfil their dream of becoming a mother.
?Surrogacy is currently not permitted in WA and, as a result, we have had instances where families have travelled interstate or overseas to jurisdictions where it is allowed.
?These laws will provide a framework to regulate surrogacy arrangements and provide a mechanism through the Family Court for commissioning parents to be legally recognised as parents of the child.
?Parentage orders will have a similar legal effect to adoption orders and will make the arranged parents the legal parents of the child for all purposes of State law.?
The key components of the Surrogacy Bill 2007 include:
- allowing access to IVF for a surrogate mother where the commissioning woman would herself be eligible for IVF due to medical infertility;
- providing a parentage order to alter the birth certificate so both commissioning parents are the legal parents of the child; and
- prohibiting commercial surrogacy and the advertising or provision of services in connection with commercial surrogacy.
The Attorney General said the laws were framed to permit only altruistic surrogacy arrangements and would not allow surrogacy for commercial gain.
?It also means that a woman would not be forced to give up a child to whom she had given birth unless she agrees to this after the birth,? he said.
?Surrogacy is not an issue that affects many couples but it is nonetheless very important for those who desperately want to start a family of their own but are unable to do so for medical reasons.?
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