Australian Surrogacy Laws: Are They Driving Would be Parents Overseas?

Research by Surrogacy Australia indicates that our laws are having this effect. Surrogacy Australia is an incorporated not-for-profit association, registered with Consumer Affairs in Victoria that provides general information on altruistic and commercial surrogacy for would be parents

It’s research as reported in today’s press indicates that a great number of Australians are choosing India as their destination for commercial surrogacy, followed by Thailand and the United States as an alternative to opting for a legal arrangement in Australia which bans compensating surrogates.

Surrogacy Australia is quoted as saying  that " research has shown that high levels of regulation within Australia and lower barriers in some overseas markets is shifting the practice of surrogacy offshore and it is a big industry". Further it says "the lack of legal ability to advertise or compensate a surrogate in Australia is pushing many hundreds of infertile or same-sex couples offshore."

Statistics quoted by an Australian agency involved in international surrogacy, found there were 200 recorded surrogacy births in India to Australian couples so far this year, compared to 179 in 2011, 86 in 2010 and 47 in 2009.

As society continues to develop its changing views of marriage and indeed the sexes that can marry, it will be interesting to see if this area of the law (now in the hands of various state legislatures) also evolves into something more flexible.

Read the full press report here or a journal article here. More information about Surrogacy Australia here. 

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