[South Africa] IOL News - "Triumph for gay couple" By Omphitlehtse Mooki

 

After a seven-year battle, a Johannesburg gay couple can finally look forward to holding their own child in their arms. 

In a judgment in the Johannesburg High Court, Judge Seun Moshidi granted Harry and Kevin Johnson (not their real names) an order confirming a surrogacy agreement between them and a 32-year-old woman who has undertaken to carry a child for them.

He also granted an order that the mother-of-five from Roodepoort relinquish her parental rights and responsibilities once the child is born.

This is in line with the new Children’s Act that came into effect in April 2010. The order has to be granted before embryos are transferred to the surrogate.

Now that the court order has been granted, the couple hopes to have at least one child by this time in 2011.

For more than seven years, the Johnsons battled homophobia while looking for a woman to carry their child.

The couple, who live in an upmarket Johannesburg northern suburb, wanted a child that was biologically theirs and this ruled out adoption. They opted for surrogacy.

Harry said: “It has been quite hard. We first tried in 2003 and went to a fertility clinic, but they did not like the fact that we were gay.”

While waiting in the clinic’s reception area, the couple was made to feel uncomfortable as staff members took turns to peek at them.

“We were probably the first gay couple there. Every single member of staff came and peeked,” said Harry, adding that a friend who had been willing to carry the child for them had since relocated.

Now the Johnsons are close to realising their dream of starting a family,

“What we are hoping for is triplets - then we don’t have to go through this all over again,” said Harry.

Eggs will be harvested from Kevin’s sister in February and Harry’s gametes will be used for fertilisation before the embryos are implanted into the surrogate at about the same time.

“We want a child that is genetically related to both of us and we believe we will be able to provide a child with a loving, caring and stable home environment filled with stimulation, a good education and moral values,” they said.

While the new act protects the Johnsons from possible exploitation by the surrogate, the couple is a little apprehensive about it as it would make things more difficult for couples hoping to go the same route.

Following the passing of the act, surrogacy agencies such as the one the couple initially worked through to get the Roodepoort woman - had to close down, while others converted to being only donor fertility agencies.

This was due to a clause in the act that seeks to discourage “wombs for rent”, a practice that saw commissioning parents paying surrogacy mothers large sums of cash to carry their babies.

“There aren’t many people who would be willing to do it free,” said Kevin, adding that people seeking surrogacy mothers through agencies used to pay up to R50 000 to get the process going.

But while they have undertaken to not pay the mother for carrying their child, the couple made an undertaking in court papers to pay all medical expenses incurred as a result of the pregnancy; physical and psychological screening; post-partum examinations for a month after the birth of the child; hospitalisation; pharmaceutical expenses; laboratory and pathology costs; as well as therapy.

An insurance life cover has been taken out on the woman, which would pay her family should something go wrong during the pregnancy or at birth.

The woman would not be living with them during the pregnancy, the couple said, but they would accompany her to all the scans and for all medical checkups.

Harry is even putting together Mozart’s music in an iPod to ensure that the woman played the music for the unborn baby.

“I want her to listen to Mozart while she’s pregnant because it improves brain function,” he said. - The Star

[Source: Original Article]

 

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[Israel] The Jerusalum Post - "Legal ruling will allow gay men to adopt partner’s child" by Ruth Eglash

 

“This is a big step for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Israel,” commented lawyer Irit Rosenblum.

A breakthrough legal ruling in the Jerusalem Family Court on Thursday will pave the way for homosexuals to officially adopt their partner’s or spouse’s child, the Tel Aviv-based New Family organization told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

“This is a big step for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Israel,” commented lawyer Irit Rosenblum, executive director of New Family, an organization that champions the rights of Israelis to marry and build families outside the traditional system.

“However, there is still a long road to the desired recognition, since each issue pertaining to gay rights is decided by the courts, and not by the legislature.”

Rosenblum, who submitted the request for adoption on behalf of the couple, told the Post that before this particular petition, no male homosexual had applied to legally adopt his partner’s child.

She pointed out that unlike in the past, surrogacy has succeeded in creating a new situation for gay couples, in which a man can become a single parent.

In this precedent-setting case, the child in question was born two years go to a man via a surrogate mother in India.

About a year ago, the father asked to allow his partner to adopt the child.

The two men went through the standard adoption process – including a review from a social worker, who assessed the partner to be a fit parent and submitted a positive recommendation to the Jerusalem Family Court.

But because there was no precedent for this type of adoption, however, the court did not immediately approve it. At that point, Rosenblum got involved and presented their case to the court, which finally ruled that the partner could legally adopt the child.

Referring to Thursday’s ruling, Rosenblum said that while it was a great step, “it is just not enough that such decisions depend only on liberal judges and not on the basis of solid legislation.”

“[This precedent] emphasizes a much bigger issue in Israel: that such decisions are based on the attitudes of certain judges and not on the rule of law,” said Rosenblum, highlighting a case six months ago of Jerusalem resident Dan Goldberg, a homosexual father of twins born to a surrogate mother in India.

After being denied entry to Israel with his children, Goldberg and his partner were forced to live in a Mumbai hotel for months after the babies were born because Jerusalem Family Court Judge Philip Marcus initially refused to authorize a standard paternity test to determine if he was the biological father of the children.

The matter was resolved only after the media reported the case and the family appealed to President Shimon Peres for help.

“This was a decision that was made by the same court regarding the rights of gay couples,” said Rosenblum, adding “it is true that the minute one judge is breaks through and is brave enough to make a decision on such issues, then other judges will come forward, too, but it’s just not enough. These basic rights must be set in law to ensure that everyone can enjoy them.”

In 2007, the Supreme Court allowed two men to jointly adopt a child that was not related to either of them.

[Source: Original Article]

 

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Tasmanian Government - "Consultation on Bill to Legalise Surrogacy"

 

Attorney-General Lara Giddings today released for public comment draft legislation to legalise altruistic surrogacy in Tasmania.

Ms Giddings said the Surrogacy Bill, which she aimed to introduce in the first sitting of State Parliament next year, would legalise surrogacy in certain defined circumstances.

“This legislation would help many Tasmanians to realise their dream of starting a family,” Ms Giddings said.

“I recognise that this is a complex and contentious area and that is why I intend to allow time for the community to comment on the draft legislation.

“For some people surrogacy may be the only way in which they are able to have children and I am pleased the proposed legislation would help them to become parents.

“Currently surrogacy arrangements are illegal in Tasmania and commercial surrogacy would continue to be banned.

“The Bill would permit all people, regardless of their marital status or sexual orientation, to enter into a surrogacy arrangement but a surrogate mother will only be able to accept medical and other related expenses.

“It would also impose conditions on parties entering into surrogacy arrangements, and will include requirements to undergo counselling and to obtain independent legal advice.

“Parentage of a child would only be transferred to the new parents where it is found by the Children’s Court to be in the best interest of the child to do so.”

Ms Giddings said the drafting of the Bill followed a Legislative Council Select Committee Report supporting the move, and support for the provision of altruistic surrogacy at a national level through the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG). 

“This legislation has been developed by SCAG after extensive community consultation at a national level.

“It would bring Tasmania into line with other jurisdictions across Australia as well as meeting the expectations of the Select Committee.

“One jurisdiction which has taken a slightly different approach to the others (and to the current draft Tasmanian Bill) is Western Australian in its Surrogacy Act 2008. 

“That Act enables a court to make parentage orders in circumstances where the consent of the birth mother is not forthcoming but the child is the genetic child of the intended parent/s and is not the genetic child of the birth mother.

"Even in that circumstance the best interests of the child remains the paramount consideration which a court must have regard to when deciding whether to make a parentage order, but I invite comments on whether this provision might be included in the Tasmanian Act.”

Ms Giddings said progress on surrogacy delivered on another major aspect of her law reform agenda.

“I said in June this year that my key law reform priorities would be progressing a Charter of Rights and Responsibilities, reforming Tasmania’s sex industry laws, introducing surrogacy laws and developing voluntary euthanasia laws.

“We are currently consulting with Tasmanians about whether we need a Charter and if so what it should look like, and I am pleased that through the draft Bill released today we are making progress on surrogacy as well.

“The other two issues will be addressed in the coming months,” Ms Giddings said.

The draft Bill, together with some explanatory material as well as links to the interstate legislation is available on Department of Justice website (http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/legislationreview/reviews). 

Copies of the Bill can be downloaded from the website or obtained from the Department by emailing legislation.development@justice.tas.gov.au or by calling 6233 3798.

Comments on Bill can be directed to the Office of Legislation Development and Review, Department of Justice, GPO Box 825, Hobart. Submissions close on Friday 4 February 2011.

[Source: Original Article]

 

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Sydney Morning Herald – “Body language said it all – first same-sex couple to adopt in NSW are great dads” by Kim Arlington COURTS

 

FIVE-YEAR-OLD William and his baby sister, Jane, suffered a life of neglect until they were placed with foster carers.

One took a year off from his job as a child welfare worker to care for the troubled siblings; both foster parents work four-day weeks to maximise their family time.

The children are now thriving and their foster parents – affectionately called ”Dad” and ”Papa” – have become the first same-sex couple in NSW to adopt.

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A Supreme Court judge, George Palmer, last week made orders for the adoption of William, 9, and Jane, 5, by their foster parents, Mr Smith and Mr Jones (the family has been given pseudonyms).

Mindful of the debate surrounding same-sex adoption, Justice Palmer took the unusual step of publishing his reasons for the landmark decision. ”Many in the community have expressed, and continue to express, a strongly held belief that adoption by same-sex couples is, in its very nature, contrary to religion, to morality and to the best interests of the child, and that it undermines the long-established concept of the nature of a family,” he said.

Though the court and the community would ”grapple for some time with the novelty of same-sex couple adoptions”, such applications did not require a specially cautious approach.

The judge said the court was not concerned with ideological debate, only what was best for the children, and Mr Smith and Mr Jones were ”unquestionably capable of parenting these two children”.

Although single gay men and women have been eligible to adopt children, the Adoption Act previously defined a ”couple” as a man and a woman who were married or in a de facto relationship.

Amendments to the legislation introduced in September expanded that definition to ”two persons”, allowing adoption by same-sex couples.

William and Jane were born to a young woman with a history of substance abuse. She has only seen them once since June 2006, when they were taken into care by the Department of Community Services. She has had no contact with them since January but did not object to their adoption by a same-sex couple.

William’s father could not be found to obtain his consent to adoption, which was dispensed with by the court.

Jane’s father – who has never met her – consented to her adoption by Mr Smith and Mr Jones, who were among the 8 per cent of foster carers with the child welfare organisation Barnardos who are gay.

A consultant psychologist involved with the family viewed them as ”experienced, highly skilled and creative” parents.

Justice Palmer described Mr Smith and Mr Jones as exemplary parents, observing that the children were happy and outgoing in court and ”stood close to their new fathers, hugging them in moments of excitement and at other times unconsciously reaching for their hands”.

[Source: Original Article]

 

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Courier Mail - "Grandmother says she was 'passed over' as foster parent for her grandchildren in favour of gay couple" by Des Houghton

THE decision that same-sex couples are allowed to foster children in Queensland has infuriated a 63-year-old grandmother who said she was passed over as a foster parent while two of her grandchildren were placed with gay men.

She said one of the men ``walks around the streets in a dress as if he was a woman.''

``It's not right,'' she said.

The case was raised in State Parliament on Monday when Rob Messenger (Independent, Burnett) asked Child Safety Minister Phil Reeves if he was aware the state had entrusted children to a transvestite.

The grandmother, who can not be named for legal reasons, said the decision to place children with homosexuals ran counter to her strong Christian values.

She said her grandson aged four and a granddaughter, 12, were taken from their mother in July and placed with the gay couple without considering the family's feelings.

``I can't understand it at all,'' she said.

``I was really upset. It has split our family even further.''

She won the support of a long-time social worker who said he knew of three cases where homosexual couples had been allowed to foster children in a Queensland regional city.

When the grandmother complained, she eventually won custody of the four-year-old, while the granddaughter was returned to her natural mother.

The grandmother admitted there had been drinking and gambling problems in the family.

She said the children were suddenly seized one morning while their mother was at bingo.

Mr Messenger asked Mr Reeves to explain why the government failed to ask the parents and grandparents whether they agree to same-sex couples or transvestites being allowed to provide foster care to their children and their grandchildren.

Mr Reeves did not answer the question directly.

He said: ``It is a sad fact that in Queensland 7800 children are not able to live at home because they would not be safe there. The reality is that in Queensland we need more foster carers.

``We need more people to put up their hands to offer care to children. I would like to thank each and every one of our foster and kinship carers who have gone the extra mile to help our children.''

[Source: Original Article]

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Courier Mail - “Gay couple first in Queensland to have child under altruistic surrogacy laws” by Sophie Elsworth

LITTLE Connor Harris doesn't yet realise he's a history-making baby.

The bubbly six-month-old is the first child in Queensland to be born under new surrogacy laws which grant his gay parents legal parentage.

And there's no wiping the smiles off Connor's proud parents, Brisbane couple Bentley and Matt Harris. "We are just so excited, it's been pretty amazing," Matt said.

"When we held Connor for the first time there was a bond instantly, we just started crying. It was very emotional and life changing."

Altruistic surrogacy was decriminalised in Queensland on June 1, after a rare State Parliament conscience vote.

MPs voted 45 to 36 to support surrogacy and allow the legal parentage of the child to be transferred from the birth mother to the intending parents.

Last-minute Opposition amendments to confine surrogacy to married and heterosexual couples failed, although commercial surrogacy remains illegal.

A friend of the couple agreed to be the surrogate mother to Connor.

The married mother-of-two, who does not want to be identified, underwent artificial insemination using Bentley's sperm last year and gave birth to Connor on May 11.

Despite no written agreement being made between Connor's birth mother and his parents until he was born, Brisbane Children's Court Judge Marshall Irwin transferred parentage to Matt and Bentley in September.

While the couple admits there have been sleepless nights, plenty of bottle feeding and lots of nappy changing, they're quick to quash any sceptics who criticise gay parenting.

"I think if you want to be a parent, go for it," Matt said. "I just know there are people out there who aren't going to accept it, but they'll be people out there who will just love it."

The pair wed in a civil ceremony in New Zealand in 2008.

"I think we're (gay couples) slowly getting more rights," Matt said.

"Just when it comes to our superannuation for example, we don't have to worry because we know everything will be left to the other person."

Solicitor Kate Cherry from Colville Johnstone Lawyers, who helped the pair gain full custody and guardianship of Connor, said it was a landmark legal decision for Queensland.

"Because this had never been done before it was literally starting from square one because there was no precedent to follow."

On Connor's birth certificate, Bentley is listed as Connor's father and Matt is listed as his parent.

Matt has taken 12 months leave to look after Connor, while Bentley works full-time.

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The West Australian - “Perth man pays $50,000 to Indian Surrogate” by Cathy O’Leary

A Perth man has paid $50,000 for a woman in India to be a surrogate mother and have his twin boys.

The single man, aged in his 30s, was desperate to have children.

He travelled to a Mumbai clinic last month to pick up the twins, several days after their birth at Hiranandani Hospital. He returned to Perth this week with the four-week-old babies.

It was his third attempt at surrogacy in India after a woman chosen to be a surrogate failed to fall pregnant last year. The two unsuccessful attempts cost him another $24,000.

In the last attempt, twins were conceived using the man's sperm and donor eggs from an Indian woman.

A different woman acted as surrogate.

Unlike WA where commercial surrogacy is banned, India offers several programs, some specifically aimed at Australians.

The WA Health Department confirmed it had approved two non-commercial surrogacies, and a third was being considered, but it had no control over overseas programs.

The man who used the Indian surrogate said he expected some people would not approve of what he did.

But he had wanted to have a family for years.

The man, who did not want to be named, said he had considered adoption and while he was not excluded, he felt he was unlikely to be selected by a family or government authorities.

"I decided to explore my options and ended up with surrogacy, and through a process of elimination went with India," he said.

"My motivation to be a father is no different to anyone else's and was the main reason I decided to proceed.

"I have stable employment, a beautiful home and am reasonably financially secure, so in my eyes there are no opportunities that my children would miss out on purely due to me being a single parent.

"I'm aware that many people would not approve but working in the field that I do, community corrections, made me realise that just because you have two parents in no way ensures a child is secure, respected and provided with the necessities of life. I am very fortunate to have an amazing extended family and a close-knit group of friends who are the babies' family."

Under Australian laws, a child born overseas through a surrogacy arrangement is considered eligible for Australian citizenship by descent provided at least one of the biological parents is an Australian citizen.

Fertility Specialists of WA medical director Roger Hart said there were strict rules at fertility clinics which were designed to protect the interests of the child. He did not believe surrogacy laws should be relaxed and said people entering into agreements with overseas clinics needed to be cautious.

[Source: Original Article]

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