Surrogacy and Adoption In Australia

Family Law: 23 March 2019

Last night we went to an eye-opening seminar presented by the Monash Law School on Surrogacy and Adoption in Australia. 

Listening to Professor Nahum Mushin, Professor Denise Cuthbert and His Honour, Chief Judge Pascoe we were both perplexed by the concepts of domestic and international adoption and international commercial surrogacy from the perspectives of the surrogate mothers, the adoptive parents and most importantly the child.

The Australian legislation governing surrogacy and adoption is a legal minefield differing from state to state and compounding this is the international and cross-border jurisdictional issues which in itself, highlights the difficulties faced by the various stakeholders.

With technology increasing more rapidly than law makers can keep up, the nature of the traditional family unit has changed and continuously the cultural, legal, social and moral norms are now being tested like never before.

The legal status of surrogate children under Australian law remains a conundrum presented by reconciling the best interests of the child with the right to form a family and the various mechanisms available now enabling this to occur.

Nadine Di Blasi & Deepal Raniga