Surrogacy in the news again

The world children live in is ruled by adults, and ruled tightly. In some ways, a fog of Dickensian darkness hangs over the rights of children, not often in the sense (in Australia at least) of their day to day living, but instead pre-birth.

A current example, that is again becoming newsworthy is surrogacy, particularly same-sex surrogacy.

If you did not know what surrogacy was, following an explanation, you’d most likely think the idea crazy.  A mother gives birth to a child (either her own child, in a genetic sense, or a child implanted into her womb with no genetic link), and then cedes the motherhood of that child to another person, with whom she had a pre-pregnancy arrangement.  Usually, the person to whom the child is given either could not have a child herself (due to infertility and a bodily inability to undergo IVF), or the person, as a matter of natural impossibility, could not ever have had a child, such as where the child is given to a man (or same-sex male couple). 

Until recently, surrogacy was illegal in Australian states due to many post birth problems, not to do with the children, but the birth mother not wanting to relinquish the child (see here for a good article on some issues).  This has been dealt with by legislation allowing the mother (who I feel guilty for not calling the ‘birth mother’) to keep the child if she so desires, and regardless of any pre-pregnancy arrangement (see here for a summary of the Queensland laws).

And, surrogacy is becoming newsworthy again.  As posted earlier, NSW just had its first case of same-sex male surrogacy. A mother gave her child to two gay men to raise as their child.  They became the ‘parents’ on its birth certificate. In making such an order, the legislation requires the court to have regard to the best interests of the child, and this arrangement was found to be in the best interests of the child (this is part of the Dickensian pall).

In Queensland, there is now news of moves to change the Queensland Surrogacy Act to prevent same sex couples from being able to obtain a child through surrogacy. No doubt this will cause a media storm.

One thing that strikes me about surrogacy news stories is that the focus is upon either the couple/person who is to receive the child following the birth (who cannot be named) or someone in a similar situation considering surrogacy, and who sees the laws as salvation.   I am yet to see a story about the issues that a child may face when it has to peel back the layers of social engineering to determine how it made its passage into the world.  This is certainly different to the focus on adopted children, where the link to their birth parents is paramount in giving them a sense of identity in the world (if you are interested, seek out the DoCS NSW or CatholicCare literature on this issue and you will begin to appreciate what child focused means).

We will have to see how it all plays out.