Surrogacy Support
Surrogacy is where the person carrying the pregnancy is not an intended parent. Only gestational carrier or non-traditional surrogacy (where the person carrying the pregnancy has not also contributed an egg to the process) is legal in Australia, and all surrogacy in Australia must be altruistic (without payment, apart from reasonable compensation for costs associated with having treatment and carrying the baby).
It is very important that you get advice from an accredited and experienced service about how to go about surrogacy to ensure that you are not breaking the law in the way you find a surrogate.
All surrogacy in Victoria requires approval from the responsible state body, and preparation for this requires medical assessments of the proposed surrogate and intended parent (s), several sessions of counselling by a specialist service, and comprehensive legal agreements to be agreed to and drawn up. It is recommended that you allow at least six months to prepare for a surrogacy arrangement.
Unfortunately, at present all fertility treatment related to surrogacy do not attract Medicare funding. This can make treatment much more expensive for patients who need surrogacy to achieve their dream of a family.
Surrogacy is the most complex area of assisted reproductive technology to work in.
If you are seeing a fertility specialist, and considering surrogacy, have you asked them how many surrogacy cases they handle each year? Unless they are regularly working with surrogacy cases, you should find a specialist who has sufficient up to date experience in navigating this complex area. Dr Weston has assisted with many surrogacy cases, including heterosexual couples, single parents, and same sex couples.
Your First Step to Fertility Support
A fertility assessment with Dr. Weston seeks to understand your reproductive health and the essential factors for conception. This proactive check-up is the foundation for creating your personalised care plan.
