Entering surrogacy arrangements and transferring parentage

Learn about surrogacy arrangements, registering parentage orders and discharging them.

Surrogacy arrangements

The Surrogacy Act 2010 controls surrogacy in Queensland. There are rules you must follow when you enter a surrogacy arrangement and transfer parentage.

Steps to follow

1. Get legal advice from a lawyer.
2. Go to counselling with a qualified counsellor.
3. Write an agreement with clear terms.
4. Make the arrangement before the birth mother becomes pregnant.
5. Birth parents register the birth with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Surrogacy guidance report

Birth and intended parents must get a surrogacy guidance report after the baby is born. This report must come from a qualified and independent counsellor. It must be a different counsellor than the one you saw before starting the surrogacy arrangement.

Under the Surrogacy Act 2010, a qualified counsellor must be one of the following:

• a member of the Australian and New Zealand Infertility Counsellors Association
• a psychiatrist who is a member of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
• a psychologist who is a member of the Australian Psychological Society
• a social worker who is a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers.

A counsellor is independent if they:

• have not provided counselling about the surrogacy arrangement to the birth mother, her spouse (if any), or the intended parents
• are not connected to the medical practitioner who performed the procedure that led to the child's birth.

Parentage orders

A parentage order makes the intended parents the legal parents of the child. It transfers parentage from the birth parents to the intended parents.

The intended parents need to apply to the courts for the order at least 28 days after the child has lived with them. The child must be aged between 28 days to 6 months old when the application is made.

To apply, you will need:

• the written surrogacy agreement
• a surrogacy guidance report.

For the court to make a parentage order, the intended parents must have a medical or social need for the surrogacy, such as:

• unable to become pregnant, carry a pregnancy or give birth
• have a genetic condition that is likely to affect the child or put the child's life at risk
• unlikely to survive pregnancy or birth, or likely to have their health significantly affected.

The courts will decide whether the order is in the best interests of the child.

Steps to apply

1. Apply to the Children's Court of Queensland for a parentage order.
2. If the court approves the order, register the parentage order with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Discharging parentage orders

A parentage order can be cancelled if this is in the best interests of the child.

Reasons to discharge an order:

• fraud, pressure, or manipulation happened
• payment, reward, or benefit was involved
• there is an exceptional reason.

Steps to discharge an order

1. Apply to the Children’s Court of Queensland to cancel the parentage order.
2. If the court approves the order, register the discharge order with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

You might have been looking for

Rules for surrogacy arrangements and transferring parentage

Register a parentage order or discharge order

Register a birth