Surrogacy Introduction

Surrogacy has been legal in Australia since November 1994.  Surrogacy involves a woman carrying a pregnancy and giving birth to a baby which is not her own biological child (ie. was not conceived using her egg/ovum) for adoption by another person or couple.  Therefore the surrogate is a gestational carrier only and the genetic make-up of the embryo comes from the commissioning couple.  It is the commissioning couple who want the child and who usually provide the genetic material (ie. sperm and eggs).  The surrogate is the woman who carries the pregnancy at the request of the commissioning couple.

Surrogacy involves an IVF procedure.  The oocytes and sperm come from the female and male commissioning couple.  The surrogate female has the fertilised ovum (embryo) placed into her uterus with the aim of becoming pregnant and birthing the commissioning couple’s baby.

Not all fertility clinics provide surrogacy treatment.  This is a highly specialised form of treatment, and an ethics committee must approve each case of surrogacy.  The ethics committee associated with the fertility clinic will have a set of guidelines to govern the surrogacy process, and the major emphasis will be on extensive counselling to protect the rights all of people involved and also to prevent disputes involving the child.

Like sperm, egg and embryo donation, surrogacy must be altruistic and the commissioning couple must find their own surrogate.  It is illegal for a fertility clinic to advertise or obtain surrogates for commissioning couples.

The laws governing surrogacy are different in each state and territory and patients interested in this treatment must discuss their circumstances with a specialist doctor and a lawyer in their state, especially regarding the issue of adoption in the event of a successful outcome.

See the Surrogacy sections on Evaluation, Counselling, Guidelines for Surrogacy, Surrogacy Legal Requirements and Legislation, and Surrogacy Fees on this website for further information.

Surrogacy Link

The link below provides some further information on the surrogacy process. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information and it should not be acted upon without prior consultation with your doctor or the fertility clinic.

http://www.surrogacyinfoqld.com