Commercial surrogacy may be legalized in Australia

21.04.2015

In a wide-ranging speech in Brisbane on Friday, 17 Family Court Chief Justice Diana Bryant claimed that commercial surrogacy should be immediately legalized in Australia.

After two scandal cases of child abandonment which caused international overseas conflicts in India and Thailand last year the Australian Government was forced to think about the legalization of the commercial surrogacy on the territory of the country.

According to Diana Bryant, such a new law will allow to regulate all the aspect of paid surrogacy and prevent from searching for surrogate mothers abroad.

By Australian laws it is viewed absolutely illegal (except the northern part of the country) to pay a surrogate mother for bearing a child. In some Australian districts signing surrogacy contract abroad is also a criminal offence. But criminal punishment doesn’t prevent Australian spouses from going through surrogacy programs abroad even if later it might cause legal and ethical problems, especially when egg donation has been used.

Majority of politicians, leading thinkers, researchers and lecturers including Jenni Millbank (expert in family law, professor from the University of Technology in Sydney) and president of Surrogacy Australia Robert Reith are for legalization of the commercial surrogacy in Australia as it’ll contribute infertile couples to gain happiness of parenthood not going abroad and facing various problems later.

Based on: abc.net.au

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