A recent article on
what it is like to carry someone else's child highlights
the legal complexities that arise in relation to modern conception
arrangements, such as surrogacy, which continue to require court
determinations, particularly when concerning overseas surrogacy
arrangements.
The Surrogacy Act 2011 provides that a commissioning couple to a
surrogacy can apply for parenting rights to be transferred to them.
Until such time that a legal determination is made, the child is
deemed to be the child of the birth mother.
In February 2018 the Family Court heard a case1 where
a child was born by way of an international commercial surrogacy
arrangement. An application was made by a couple seeking a
parenting order for equal shared parental responsibility of the
child and requested that the child live with them in Australia.
There was no response from the biological mother in respect of the
proceedings. The issue for the Court was to determine whether a
parenting
