Services > Brisbane Family Lawyers > Surrogacy

 

The Surrogacy Act 2010 (Qld) (“the Act”) came into effect in Queensland on 1 June 2010. The Act provides for the regulation of altruistic surrogacy agreements and prohibits commercial surrogacy arrangements.

 

What is a surrogacy arrangement?

 

Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman (known as the “birth mother”) agrees to become pregnant, with the intention of handing over the child to a person or a couple (“the intended parent”). The agreement must be established prior to the pregnancy.

 

Any woman that has capacity to make decisions for herself and is over 25 years of age may enter into a surrogacy agreement, provided that she complies with the conditions under the Act.

 

An intended parent is either a male, or an eligible woman, and may either be single or in a couple. The intended parent(s) must also be at least 25 years of age prior to entering into the agreement. The Act allows for the payment to, or reimbursement of, the birth mother’s reasonable expenses associated with the surrogacy to be paid by the intended parent.

 

Following the birth of the child, the parties can apply for a court order that transfers the legal parentage of the child from the birth mother to the intended parents (known as a parentage order). There are however certain requirements which must be satisfied to obtain a parentage order, for example, the parties to a surrogacy arrangement must obtain counselling and independent legal advice before entering into the arrangement.

 

What information will I receive from my lawyer?

 

It is important for all parties to obtain legal advice so that their rights and obligations under the surrogacy arrangement, as well as the implications of entering into a surrogacy arrangement, can be fully explained.

 

Our lawyers can advise you on the following:-

	Whether a proposed agreement is enforceable
	Your legal obligations under the arrangement and the Act
	What happens if you don’t want to hand over the child
	Whether child support would be payable if you don’t want to hand over the child
	What happens if the intended parents don’t want the child
	The legal implications of a parentage order

 

We can also assist you in drafting the surrogacy agreement or preparing the application to court for a parentage order.

 

For more information, contact us to make an appointment to discuss your situation.

 

Other Family Law Fact Sheets

 

	Arrangements for Children	Read
	Binding Financial Agreements	Read
	Child Support	Read
	Divorce	Read
	Property Law	Read
	Spousal Maintenance	Read