Are you elibible to make a Legal Surrogacy Agreement
There are restrictions on who can enter into a Surrogacy Arrangement in Queensland.
There are limitations on whether you will be eligible to make a Surrogacy Agreement.
There are also requirements which must be met and a procedure that will have to be followed for:
- the Surrogacy Agreement to be lawful; and
- the intended parent(s) to be successful in having the Court make a parentage order which will enable the intended parent(s) to be recorded on the child’s birth certificate.
Who is eligible to enter into a Surrogacy Arrangement
You need to meet the elibility criteria to become a parent under a Surrogacy Agreement in Queensland. You can be eligible if you are a:
- Male Same Sex .Couple;
- Eligible Female Same Sex Couple;
- A Female who is Single as long as she meets eligibility criteria;
- Heterosexual Couple as long as the female partner is eligible.
A Female who is not eligible cannot be an intended parent under a Surrogacy Agreement in Queensland. This applies whether she is single, in a heterosexual relationship or a same sex relationship.
Under proposed changes to the surrogacy laws in Queensland, the following people will not be eligible to enter into a Surrogacy Arrangement:
- Same Sex Couples;
- Single people; and
- People who have been in a de facto relationship less than 2 years.
It is not yet known when those changes to the law will be made however the current Qld State Government has said those changes to the law will definitely be made.
You can read more about the proposed changes to Qld Surrogacy laws in our information sheet Proposed changes to Surrogacy in Qld.
Birth Parents and Intended Parents
The “birth parents” of the Child are the woman who carries and gives birth to the child and her spouse. The birth mother is the surrogate mother.
The “intended parent(s)” of the Child are the couple or single person who intend to become the child’s legal parents after the birth.
Requirements & Limitations for a Surrogacy Arrangement
There are requirements and limitations on who is able to enter into a Surrogacy Agreement.
Those requirements and limitations include:
- Any “intended parent” who is female must also be “eligible”. In broad terms, a female is “eligible” if she is unable to conceive, or is unlikely to be able to safely carry a healthy child to term.
- If the intended parent is a man or “eligible woman”, there must be a medical or social need for the Surrogacy Arrangement.
- All parties to the Surrogacy Arrangement must be at least 25 years of age when the Surrogacy Arrangement is entered into.
- The intended parent(s) must be resident in Queensland.
- The Surrogacy Arrangement must be entered into with the consent of all parties.
- The Surrogacy Arrangement must be entered into before the child is conceived.
There are other steps that also need to be followed for a Court to grant an Application for a parentage order after the birth of the Child. A parentage order will enable the details of the intended parent(s) to be recorded on the Child’s birth certificate. You can read more about those steps and the procedure that must be followed in our information sheet What is the procedure for a Qld Surrogacy Arrangement.
Note: This reflects the law in Qld. The laws in other Australian States of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmainia, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory may be different.
Surrogacy: More Information
If you are going to entering into a Surrogacy Agreement you will must be familiar with the laws about Surrogacy.
Unfortunately, not everyone can legally enter into a surrogacy arrangement if they want it to be binding. The government has passed laws which say that only some people are eligible to make a legal surrogacy arrangement.
There are also laws on what money can be paid to a Surrogate Birth Mother as part of a Surrogacy Agreement as well laws which set out the procedure which must be followed to enter a legally binding Surrogacy Arrangement.
The Qld government has also announced changes they propose to make to Surrogacy laws.
If you are legally eligible to make a Surrogacy Arrangement, then you should consider both the benefits of Surrogacy, as well as the risks of Surrogacy.
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