MCV – “IVF Setbacks” by Rachel Cook

Rachel Cook discusses the delays for accessing IVF to same-sex couples – a delay of up to 5 months.

Delays in police checks will mean that same-sex couples requiring IVF treatment could be waiting five months.

Lesbians and single women gained access to IVF last December when the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Bill was passed. However the bill also introduced police checks as part of the screening process for prospective IVF recipients.

The checks are designed to ensure that people seeking fertility treatment are “fit to parent”, having no history of violence or sexual assault.

As reported in the Herald Sun last week, a doctor from Melbourne IVF has voiced his concerns that the government has failed to ensure the infrastructure is in place to cope with high numbers of police checks.

Dr John McBain said, “The bureaucracy isn’t in place in the relevant department to screen the very large numbers of people who will be trying to get police checks.”

Co-convenor of the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, Hayley Conway, said providing increased resources to cope with the swell in police checks should have been done “many many years ago”.

“This demonstrates the lack of seriousness this government has in terms of providing equal access to services for the LGBTI community,” Conway said.

“They will hide behind anything to prevent LGBTI families to access the same services heterosexual families will use. While it may not be malicious, in regards to the police checks, [before the introduction of the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Bill which allowed lesbians to access IVF] heterosexual couples were not subjected to these checks.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Human Services told MCV that the bill was “close” to being proclaimed:

“Part of making sure that the necessary arrangements are in place for the Act to be successfully implemented is that there is work that still needs to be done. Work that will make sure people can access the programs that are covered by the Act is still underway.”

The spokesperson added:

“These measures have been debated for a long time. For ten years this has been in the mix and the important thing is that we have in place the right procedures and the right infrastructure to support the bill. We want get it right.

He also said that the Herald-Sun’s claim that the Act was to be proclaimed July 1 was incorrect:
“The Act will be proclaimed automatically on January 1, 2010, if it is not proclaimed sooner, we did not say it would definitely be proclaimed July 1.”

To access IVF couples also have to pass a Child Protection Order Check. Melbourne IVF states on its website:

‘Melbourne IVF (and all IVF Clinic in Victoria) is currently working with Department of Human Services (DHS) to develop a process for undertaking the Child Protection Order Checks. This process is yet to be finalised.’”

[Link: Original Article]

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Gay Dads Australia Surrogacy Toolbar Now Available

Gay Dads Australia is experimenting with ways of communicating with members and potential members.  We have a twitter account and and rss feed.  We now have a “Gay Dads Australia – Surrogacy Toolbar” for the Firefox, IE and Safari(WIN) browsers. 

It is only in it's infant stages so far but has links to known surrogacy agencies that Gay Dads in OZ have used, links to GDA news, Link to the GDA website, Link to the Surrogacy Manual and a inbuilt radio (hopefully) tuned to JOY 94.9.

You can download it here.

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MCV - “Keeping Abreast” by Andrew Shaw

In this weeks edition of MCV [Melbourne] Gay Dad James talks about wanting to establish a Breast Milk bank in Australia for Gay Dads.

A group of gay men lobbying for a breast milk bank? The times they are a-changing, reports Andrew Shaw.

Being a father isn’t easy, even when your child’s mother is on the scene. But what happens when two dads get together and decide they want a kid? The answer is a financial, emotional and medical obstacle course that requires the stamina of an Olympic athlete to endure.

A Melbourne group that first met late last year hopes to take some of the difficulty out of the 1001 decisions that need to be made on the way to dual fatherhood. The Meeting Place is where gay dads who have, want to have, or have had kids can find information about parenting. You don’t have to have a newborn, you may have brought up yours already and want to pass on your knowledge. You don’t even have to have a child – just the desire to be a gay dad.

James and his partner Steve are poster boys for Australian gay dads, and they’re determined to share what they’ve learnt from their experiences.

“I’ve created my family through co-parenting,” James says. “First a son, then a boy and a girl through surrogacy, and we want to have a co-parenting relationship with a woman who’s now pregnant with twins. We’ll have five children in the end.

“It’s been tricky with my partner at times. I have a 13-year relationship and the act of creating through surrogacy creates financial pressure and you have to navigate how you raise these children. It’s just us two and we don’t have the traditional roles. You have to work out the difference in how you parent a child. There’s no manual.”

The next meeting of the group in Carlton will be attended by anything from 10 to 25 men, James says, and everyone goes out for an informal dinner in the area afterwards. Guest speakers are a maternal health and child nurse who’ll talk about the medical and early developmental milestones for children, and a hospital representative who’s setting up a breast milk bank.

“A major hospital is setting up a breast milk bank,” James explains, “and is keen to talk to gay dads who have children through surrogacy and have newborns that need breast milk. I know there are a lot of Victorian men who have surrogate children through India and the US and the opportunity to use breast milk is good, if you can get it.”

In James’s case, the US surro-mum – as he calls the surrogate – came back to Australia and breast fed his children for two weeks. “Then we went to formula. But breast milk is supposed to be better for immunities.”

James believes it’s a man’s right, gay or straight, to have kids. “It doesn’t matter if you are into leather or [you’re] a bear – you’re a father as well. Children teach you a lot about how to enjoy life, and I’m learning through their experiences. You don’t get that through a gym membership or a dog.”

The Meeting Place’s next event is at the Drummond Street Relationship Centre, 193 Drummond St, Carlton at 6pm on July 14, 2009. Details: James 0410 548 613 or join the email group viagaydadsvic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Photo: James feeds one of his children, photo by the surro-mum.

[Link: Original Article]

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TGLRG – Tasmanian Government Move on Same-Sex Parenting

TASMANIAN GAY AND LESBIAN RIGHTS GROUP

LGBT Media Release Wednesday June 17th 2009

TAS GOV MOVE ON SAME-SEX PARENTING APPLAUDED FAMILIES URGED TO CONTACT UPPER HOUSE MEMBERS

Tasmanian advocates have welcomed the State Government's move to give equal legal recognition to the same-sex partners of women who have children through reproductive technology.

Legislation has been introduced which will automatically grant parent status to the same-sex partner of a woman who has a child through IVF or other reproductive technology, a right long available to heterosexual partners.

The Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group and the Womens Legal Service (Tas) applauded the move.

Rights Group spokesperson, Rodney Croome, said all children deserve the same legal protections regardless of the gender of their parents.

"This legislation will give children born to same-sex partners through reproductive technology like IVF the financial and emotional security of having two legal parents rather than one".

According to Womens Legal Service managing solicitor, Susan Fahey, the lack of recognition for co-mothers can create problems in areas like emergency medical decision-making.

"We are in contact with same-sex partners for whom lack of legal security has meant severe disadvantage and trauma in daily life", Ms Fahey said.

The recognition of same-sex co-parents was attempted by the State Labor Government in 2003 with the support of a majority of the Liberal Opposition, but was blocked in the State Upper House.

Since then, most other Australian states have enacted the reform.

Mr Croome urged families headed by Tasmanian same-sex partners to contact their local state Upper House member and explain how reform will benefit them.

Same-sex couples have had access to reproductive services in Tasmania for many years.

For more information contact Rodney Croome on 0409 010 668 or Susan Fahey on 0418 434 226

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Australian Marriage Equality – New Poll Shows Australians Overwhelmingly Support Same-Sex Marriage

AUSTRALIAN MARRIAGE EQUALITY - Media Release

NEW POLL SHOWS AUSTRALIANS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

A national opinion poll released today shows 60% of Australians believe same-sex couples should have the right to marry.

Australian Marriage Equality national convenor, Peter Furness, said that almost twice as many Australians now support equal marriage than oppose it.

"Clearly, Australians believe marriage is first and foremost about love and commitment, not your partner's gender", Mr Furness said.

"This poll scuttles the only rationale put forward by the Rudd Government for opposing equality, namely that a majority of Australians believe marriage should only be between a man and a woman."

"It surely increases the pressure on the Labor Party to endorse same-sex marriage at its upcoming national conference."

"We call on delegates to the conference to reflect the fairness and good sense of ordinary Australians by endorsing equal marriage."

The full results show 60% support equal marriage, 36% oppose it, with 4% undecided.

The poll was conducted by Galaxy polling and commissioned by Australian Marriage Equality and Equal Love with the support of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).

It found that 64% of Labor voters, 50% of Coalition voters, and 74% of young voters support marriage equality.

PFLAG national spokesperson, Shelley Argent, also welcomed the result: "We want to see the relationships of our gay and lesbian children given the same rights and respect as their straight siblings", said Mrs Argent.

A separate question found that 58% of Australians believe foreign same-sex marriages should be recognised by Australia.

In 2004 the Howard Government, with the support of the Labor Opposition, amended the Marriage Act to prohibit same-sex marriages occurring in Australia as well as the recognition of same-sex marriages from overseas.

Polls taken since then have shown a steady increase in support for same-sex marriage from 38% in an SBS Newspoll in 2004 to 57% in a Galaxy poll in 2007 to 60% today.

A National Day of Action on marriage equality, commemorating the 2004 same-sex marriage ban, will be held on August 1st with events in all major capital cities.

A copy of the poll is available at 
www.australianmarriageequality.com/Galaxy200906.pdf

Further information:
Peter Furness
0425 848 723

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Herald Sun - “Gay couples’ access to IVF delayed” by Georgie Pilcher

GAY couples wanting access to IVF and donor sperm will have to wait for authorities to develop a way to make sure they are fit to be parents.

Laws allowing same-sex couples access to donor sperm and extra IVF services will be delayed at least five more months amid claims the Government doesn't have the technology or resources to implement mandatory police checks in the legislation.

The Assisted Reproductive Treatment Bill, passed in December, gave lesbian and single women access to donor sperm and additional IVF services, but it also made it compulsory for all women and their partners, and any man donating sperm, to have police and child protection record searches.

The Act was to be proclaimed on July 1, but Melbourne IVF director Dr John McBain said the Government had stalled, unable to handle the hundreds of expected record checks.

"The Government is telling us it doesn't have the resources in place to cope with the police checks," he said.

"The bureaucracy isn't in place in the relevant department to screen the very large numbers of people who will be trying to get police checks."

Dr McBain said he was advising patients to have police checks in advance.

"There are many women whose ovaries are getting older and have to go interstate. Now they will have to wait until at least September or later," he said.

Shadow health spokeswoman Helen Shardey claims the Government has failed to develop an IT program to run the police checks.

"This bungling could lead to Victoria's IVF program being closed down, robbing couples of the opportunity to commence treatment to start a family," she said.

"This failure could also put at risk the ability of women needing cancer treatment to have their eggs stored for future IVF treatment."

A spokesman for the Department of Human Services confirmed lesbians and gay couples would have to wait.

The Government wanted to get it right. "I don't know the precise details of what the hold-up is, but we need to put all the mechanisms in place to support the Act," he said.

"We need to have all those systems and supporting regulations actually happening and that is the work that is going on currently."

He would not comment on the date of delivery, saying another couple of months was a short wait for gay couples who had already waited nearly a decade.

"The wait in the overall scheme of things between now and as long as the end of the year is not a huge amount of time. The focus has to be on getting it right," he said.

[Link: Original Article]

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New - Listen to the Gay Dads Australia News Direct from our Site

We have added a new feature to the Gay Dads Australia website.  You can now listen to any of the news postings simply by clicking on the link at the end of the post called “Listen to this post”.  Indeed, you will be able to listen to this post by clicking the link below.  You can also download the file as an MP3 file and put it on your music player to listen at any time. 

You can also subscribe to this via as a PodCast by clicking on the icon below or paste the PodCast URL in the “Subscribe to Podcast” section of a program like iTunes.

 

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