The law in South Australia recognises only those surrogacy agreements that conform to the requirements outlined in the Family Relationships Act 1975. Amongst other things, a recognised surrogacy agreement requires that:
- the female parent commissioning the agreement is infertile or there is a serious genetic defect, disease or illness that would be transmitted to a child if the female parent were to proceed with a pregnancy;
- the surrogate mother has been assessed and approved as a surrogate by an accredited counselling service;
- the agreement states that the parties intend the pregnancy is to be achieved by the use of a fertilisation procedure carried out in South Australia and at least one of the commissioning parents will provide human reproductive material for the creation of an embryo;
- no valuable consideration is payable under the agreement (other than for expenses connected with the pregnancy and birth of the child);
- the agreement states that the parties intend the commissioning parents will apply for an order recognising them as parents (under s 10HB) after the child is born.
Despite the provisions now recognising surrogacy agreements, an agreement entered into for consideration and outside the requirements as listed in s 10HA of the Family Relationships Act 1975 is void. It is an offence to enter into a surrogacy contract or a contract to procure a surrogate for payment and in circumstances that do not meet the criteria for a recognised surrogacy agreement. The maximum penalty is $4000 or 12 months imprisonment (s 10G).
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SURROGACY : Last Revised: Mon Nov 22nd 2010
