Sunday Telegraph
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4407529
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Page : 92
Section :
Edition : stx
Region : NSW Metropolitan
AGENDA
Heartache behind the door NSW closed on surrogacy
Catherine Cusack weighs up an ethical dilemma
H
alf the room was in tears of
joy, the other half in tears
of frustration.
The Surrogacy Australia 2012
Conference needed 50 people to
register in order to break even. They
hoped for 100. In the end 250 people
registered, including 70 couples from
NSW. This surprised organisers
because the conference was held in
Melbourne. Such a gathering where
doctors from overseas explain ethical
surrogacy is illegal in NSW.
Why? In 2010 the NSW Parliament
passed chaotic legislation that not
only banned commercial surrogacy in
this state, but (for our residents)
everywhere else in the world.
So a couple from NSW entering a
lawful contract in India or the United
States to have a baby face fines and
jail if they bring the baby home.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban
are lucky their baby (made possible
by a gestational surrogate in the US)
was born in December 2010. Our laws
making such an arrangement a
criminal offence came into effect on
March 10, 2011. If Nicole and Keith
have another baby in the same way it
won’t just be the media greeting them
at Sydney Airport. The police will be
joining the throng to arrest them.
Most hopeful couples at the
Melbourne conference were aged in
their late-30s. Surrogacy is a last
resort after numerous IVF attempts.
The NSW cancer survivors who
undertook IVF before lifesaving
surgery and chemo tend to be
younger. For these women who can
never carry a baby their sole option
has been accessing a surrogate.
IVF clinics in Sydney have
thousands of embryos awaiting
implantation so these young women
who have beaten cancer can fulfil
their dream of starting a family. But
we in NSW have made their lives
immeasurably harder by slamming
the door on the commercial
surrogacy they were promised before
they agreed to radical surgery.
Like every one else at the
conference, married, de facto, straight
and gay, they want their babies to be
born in ethical surrogacy
arrangements, and they are all
prepared to pay for it. Time is critical.
They borrow against their
mortgages, they research the maze of
nine different regulatory regimes
governing surrogacy and navigate
contradictory federal and state laws.
NSW and Queensland residents
know they have to move interstate —
permanently. They have to decide
which state or country, bearing in
mind their precious embryos are
being held in Sydney and cannot be
released for commercial surrogacy.
It’s so complicated. The Family
Court makes the parentage orders.
When all the papers and rulings are
obtained, the Department of
Immigration needs to approve
citizenship and issue a passport so
they can bring their baby home.
Nobody wants their child to have a
cloud over their identity and
citizenship. Anyone who thinks these
couples are exploiting women in other
countries or doing something selfish is
in profound error. The people
undertaking this journey are the finest
citizens you could meet. They just
want to be parents. They don’t want to
go to jail for following that dream.
Their honesty is breathtaking. One
mum’s voice breaks as she explains:
‘‘I tell my daughter you didn’t grow
in my tummy, you grew in my heart.’’
Hands up everyone who believes
this woman should be handcuffed
and thrown into prison with Nicole
Kidman and Keith Urban?
>> Catherine Cusack is a Liberal
backbencher in the upper house
High-profile pair
Nicole Kidman
and Keith Urban
with daughters
Faith (left), born
in 2010 through
a gestational
carrier, and
Sunday Rose
Picture: Snapper
Media
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