Surrogacy

Need to Know

Surrogacy is where a woman (the ‘birth mother’) agrees to become pregnant and give birth to a child and then hand the child over to another person or couple (the ‘intended parents’).
A surrogacy agreement must be established prior to pregnancy.
To be a surrogate you need to have capacity to make your own decisions, be over 25 and comply with the conditions of the Act.
As a surrogate, you cannot be paid by the intended parent/s to have a baby (other than to cover reasonable medical expenses).
The birth mother and intended parent/s are required to seek legal advice from a lawyer who understands surrogacy laws.

Growing families through surrogacy

If you are thinking about becoming a surrogate or considering surrogacy as an option for growing your family, our family lawyers can help.

Surrogacy has many legal considerations and is a formal agreement between the birth mother and intended parents. Queensland has its own surrogacy laws – the Surrogacy Act 2010 (QLD) – which sets out all the requirements for a surrogacy agreement.

If you are considering surrogacy to grow your family, please get in touch. We can help either birth mothers or intended parents to negotiate the surrogacy process.

A step-by-step surrogacy process

How does the surrogacy process work from a legal standpoint?

Surrogacy is a formal agreement that must be entered before any assisted reproductive treatment or pregnancy begins.
Only altruistic (non-commercial) surrogacy agreements are legal in Queensland.
Following the birth, the intended parent/s must apply to the Court seeking an order to transfer the parentage of the child.
Certain legal requirements must be met for the Court to allow this to happen.

What are the legal requirements?

For a successful transfer of parentage, the Court will ask for the following requirements to be met:

Legal advice – all parties must obtain independent legal advice and be aware of their rights, obligations and implications of the surrogacy agreement

Counselling – all parties must attend counselling with a qualified practitioner.
Surrogacy agreement – a clear and comprehensive written agreement must be entered into by all parties.
Guidance report – all parties must attend counselling with a qualified practitioner after the birth to obtain a surrogacy guidance report.
Guidance report – all parties must attend counselling with a qualified practitioner after the birth to obtain a surrogacy guidance report.

What if someone changes their mind?

Sometimes birth parent/s or intended parent/s may decide not to proceed with the agreement. You should seek legal advice immediately to work out what this means for the child.

Help to grow your family

The team at Quinn Family Law are experienced in preparing surrogacy agreements. We can represent either the birth or intended parents.

Speak to an experienced Gold Coast family lawyer today. Book a free 60 minute initial consultation with Quinn Family Law.

We look forward to guiding you through the surrogacy process and supporting your growing family.