Sydney Morning Herald - "Surrogates told to pay support" by Deidre Mussen

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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Sunday Star Times - "Gay couple will be loving parents, says mum"

AN AUCKLAND woman soon to give birth to a surrogate baby for two gay Australian men is excited to help a loving couple become parents, regardless of their gender.

"One of the nicest things was I've had a letter in the mail from [the biological father's] mother telling me how loved this child will be and how they can't put into words what I've done for their family."

The 35-year-old single mum has a 10-year-old son to a former relationship and has been keen since then to have a baby for a couple unable to have their own children.

"I think some people can do it and some can't."

After failing to find anyone needing a surrogate among friends and family, she googled the subject and found the New Zealand surrogacy website, nz-surrogacy.com, where surrogates and intended parents could meet online.

She talked to several heterosexual New Zealand couples about being their surrogate but nothing worked out.

Eventually, she was asked if she'd consider being a surrogate for a gay couple from Sydney.
"I'd always preferred a heterosexual New Zealand couple." However, they spoke on the phone and immediately clicked with the mother.

"I think we've got similar philosophies and backgrounds. They were right I just knew."
While surrogacy laws are under review in Australia, it is illegal in many states, unlike in New Zealand. The couple had considered using a surrogate in America, where commercial surrogacy is legal, if they couldn't find one closer to home.

One of the men is the biological father and came to New Zealand three times last year, using artificial insemination with a syringe to impregnate her.

She admits it is more complicated being a surrogate for gay men and has had some negative remarks from people, but is happy with her choice.

"My father's a bit reluctant I'm having a baby for a gay couple. I didn't choose a gay couple, but I had to find the right couple and they were the ones for me.

"It's been good for [my son] to spend time with the boys too. He loves them to pieces."

The couple, both first-time dads, have read up about gay parenting and plan to maintain contact after the baby's handed over.

They have booked to come to New Zealand in about two weeks' time, 10 days before her due date, in case she delivered early, "but they think they can get here within seven hours if it happens sooner".
They will stay at a private Auckland birthing unit for the birth, and the surrogate plans to hand over care immediately after the birth.

The fathers will spend the following few weeks in a serviced apartment with their son while guardianship and other legal matters are finalised in court so they can take him home to Australia.
"I sign over day-to-day parenting rights but in the eyes of the law a mother can never sign over their rights, which is hard for [the fathers]."

One of her conditions is no day care.

"I can't see the point of having a baby for people then it's just put in daycare."

The baby boy's father plans to take three months' leave from his nursing job to care for their newborn but later will return to shift work. However, the baby will be almost entirely cared for by either dad after that, apart from one day a week when his grandmother will look after him.

Seeing the excitement of impending parenthood has given the Auckland surrogate great pleasure.
Photographs of their son's bedroom in Sydney show it beautifully decked out, ready for the new arrival.

However, she knows finally handing over her surrogate son will be tough.

"I know there will be hormones and possibly tears. I know the hardest will be when they go back to Australia."

But she and her 10-year-old son hope to visit the couple and baby in Australia about three months after the birth.

And the couple have mentioned hopes of her having a sibling for their son, which she is considering.

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Sydney Morning Herald - "$12 for bootees, $5 for bib, $30,000 for a baby" by Kate Benson

TREVOR ELWELL and Peter West know they are in for an anguished wait, pacing the floor outside a Mumbai maternity ward as they listen to the cries of the mother of their children.

The couple have never met the woman bearing their twins or the donor who provided the eggs. They will not be allowed to attend the birth or meet any of their children's family, but minutes after their newborns take their first breaths, they will be handed to the men - to be whisked away to a life in suburban Melbourne.

Mr Elwell and Mr West, both 40, are among the first Australians to pay an Indian woman to carry their children. So far, about 30 couples are pursuing surrogacy in India, including three who will fly to Mumbai next month to start treatment. Five are expecting children, including Mr Elwell and Mr West, but so far no Australian babies have been born.

Commercial surrogacy has been legal in India since 2002, but has been attracting more Australians since the falling exchange rate pushed the cost of buying a baby from the US to more than $300,000 last year.

A baby carried by an Indian surrogate can be bought for as little as $30,000, plus an extra $10,000 if the couple want to use a Caucasian egg donor, usually flown in from South Africa.

Surrogates are housed together with access to doctors, nurses, maids and social workers during their pregnancy and can earn up to 10 times their annual income by carrying a baby.

It is fast becoming big business in India as a viable industry rather than a rare fertility treatment, but Australian supporters are adamant the scheme does not exploit the country's poor.

"These are not slum-dwellers," says Megan Sainsbury, a spokeswoman for Australia India Surrogacy Advocates. "They are middle-class women who have the approval and support of their families. They are not being forced into it."

The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General last week called for submissions regarding changes to altruistic surrogacy law in Australia. Its discussion paper included points on international surrogacy that could make it impossible for people like Mr Elwell and Mr West to add to their family.

It suggests surrogates must live in the same jurisdiction as the intended parents or the parents will not be granted custody, and laws should "preclude exploitative arrangements" with Third World surrogates.

"None of us would ever exploit a person from a Third World country," Ms Sainsbury said. "We are furious about this. India has some of the strictest regulations regarding psychological testing in the world for surrogates and potential parents. They do not accept people who are purely in it for the money or those who want to exploit someone less fortunate than themselves."

The first Australian baby is due in March to a couple living in Beijing. Mr Elwell and Mr West's twins are due in May.

"We've thought long and hard about this and have put everything in place to make sure we can give these children everything they need - including plenty of girlfriends who are cat-fighting over who will be godmother," Mr Elwell said.

Only the genetic father's name will appear on the birth certificate. "But we're a family unit and that's all that matters. Our children will know where they came from and who their father is when they are old enough to understand and we are determined to include their Indian heritage in their upbringing. My mother is already planning a mural of an Indian elephant for their room."

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Sydney Morning Herald - "National surrogacy scheme moves forward" by AAP

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.

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The Sunday Mail - "Suggorate mums could be paid $10,000 cash under radical changes to laws" by Linda Silmalis and Kay Dibben

MOTHERS could be paid up to $10,000 to give birth to another woman's child under radical changes to controversial surrogacy laws.

Commercial surrogacy is illegal but state governments will consider allowing women to be reimbursed by parents for the medical costs, and up to two months' loss of earnings.

The man behind the proposal, NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos, said existing laws made it difficult for parents to get a passport for surrogate children, or to enrol them in school, The Sunday Mail reports.

"If the national model is adopted, courts could grant a parentage order to a couple if it was in the best interests of the child, and the surrogate mother had given her informed consent," he said.

A discussion paper, prepared by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, will be released today in a bid to introduce a uniform law.

It questions whether a same-sex couple could become the legal parents of a child, and whether surrogate mothers must be over 25 years of age and have previously given birth.

It also will consider whether intending parents must have a criminal background check.

Other potential changes include having the names of the intended parents on a second birth certificate.

The original birth certificate would still exist, and the child would be entitled to both records at a certain age.

Courts would be given the final say on whether a couple should be granted the legal right to be a child's parents.

In Queensland, altruistic surrogacy – where a woman bears a child for a couple without receiving payment – could be decriminalised this year.

A parliamentary committee in October recommended that surrogacy not involving payments or gifts be made legal.

If the State Government adopts its recommendations, an independent surrogacy review panel, including medical and legal experts, will be appointed to approve applications.

Committee chairwoman Linda Lavarch said couples were being driven overseas and families were being turned into criminals under the existing law.

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Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Blog - "Surrogate mothers Could be paid upto $10,000" by Stephen Page

Stephen Page of the Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Blog is reporting that Surrogate mothers Could be paid upto $10,000.

"Mothers could be paid up to $10,000 to give birth to another woman's child under proposed changes to surrogacy laws, according to Brisbane's Sunday Mail. State governments will consider allowing women to be reimbursed by parents for the medical costs, and up to two months' loss of earnings, according to the report".

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MCV - "Study gives thumbs up to lesbian moms"

Lesbian parents raise happy, healthy children, according to 22-year American study.

The longest-running study into lesbian parents in the US has found discrimination, not the sexual orientation of parents, harms children, the UK’s Pink News reports.

The USA National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS), based in San Francisco, has been following planned lesbian families with children conceived by donor insemination since 1986.

Data recently released is based on interviews conducted when the children were 10 years old.

The NLLFS confirms the findings of over 40 other studies on the children of lesbian and gay parents, and supports the positions of all major professional associations on the well-being of children growing up in lesbian and gay families.

The NLLFS finds that although the parents’ sexual orientation doesn’t harm children, discrimination does; the researchers report that the adverse effects of discrimination were significantly reduced when the parents, schools and communities encouraged an appreciation of diversity.

"The findings of our research conclude that children raised in lesbian parent households are healthy, happy, and high-functioning," said researcher Dr Nanette Gartrell, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the Center of Excellence in Women's Health for the University of California, San Francisco.

"The parents created healthy, loving and safe environments where their children were able to grow and thrive.

“Even the negative effects of homophobia were largely mitigated when their parents were active participants in the lesbian community and when the children attended schools that taught an appreciation of diversity."

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