Source: Podtail
Sarah Jefford presents The Australian Surrogacy Podcast – sharing stories about surrogacy, from intended parents and surrogates.
Tag: surrogate mother
UK – ‘My online surrogate is now my best friend’: Mum reveals incredible bond after birth of twins
Source: Mirror
Online pals Elouise King and Jenny Robinson were nervous about their first face-to-face meeting – yet it would seal the mother of all friendships.
The pair had exchanged messages on a surrogacy forum but didn’t know if they would click in person.
That first meeting was in a pub. Fitting really, for just 18 months later they would be wetting the baby’s head not once, but twice, after Jen gave birth to Elouise and hubby Paul’s TWINS .
6 Legal Issues Singaporean Couples Should Consider Before Hiring a Surrogate
Source: Yahoo Finance
According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), surrogacy refers to the arrangement where “a woman is artificially impregnated, whether for monetary compensation or not, with the intention that the child is to be the social child of some other person or couple”.
Commercial surrogacy often involves a fee paid to the surrogate mother. By hiring a surrogate mother, you are essentially hiring a woman to carry and deliver a child for you.
‘Platonic’ couple can be joint parents
Source: The Times
A married couple in a sexless marriage because one of them is gay have been given the go ahead to be joint parents to a surrogate baby.
Britain’s leading Family Court judge, Sir James Munby, said it did not matter that the marriage was “platonic” or that they had separate homes.
UK – Surrogacy abroad: how to get started
Source: Lexology
With more people facing fertility issues and couples increasingly seeking alternative routes to have children, there is a growing number of UK families created through surrogacy.
In the last three years, the number of children being born through surrogacy has almost tripled according to figures from the Ministry of Justice Family Court.
Surrogacy is no longer a taboo – along with adoption it has become an accepted alternative to traditional child birth. It has even recently featured in the Archers on Radio 4 and has been put into the headlines by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West who have recently used a surrogate to have their baby, Chicago.
New Uniform Parentage Act Becomes Law in Washington State
Source: The Humanist
Earlier this week, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington signed into law an updated version of the state’s Uniform Parentage Act. Written to safeguard the rights of LGBTQ and non-biological parents, the new law defines a “de facto” parent as well as allows compensation beyond medical and other expenses for surrogate mothers.
According to the law’s sponsor, state Senator Jamie Pedersen, who has four children with his husband conceived through surrogacy, the bill will help parents who want to have a child through surrogacy at home in Washington State, rather than leaving the state. (Pedersen and his husband had their children in California where compensated surrogacy is already allowed.)
Surrogacy laws in Western Australia set to change
Source: 9 News
It’s the ultimate gift – bringing a baby into the world through surrogacy.
However, in Western Australia, only 10 babies have been born through a surrogate in the last decade because the state’s laws are so tough.
The process often takes up to a year and costs roughly $80,000.
That makes Robina and her husband Ryan’s one year old son, Raphael, a rare baby.
UK – Woman born without a womb to finally become a mum after workmate makes incredible offer to be surrogate
Source: Daily Record
Natasha Hutcheon and her childhood sweetheart will finally become parents after colleague Katie Beardal agreed to be their surrogate.
It was a dream they feared would never be realised after a series of heartbreaking setbacks.
But now a couple will finally become parents after a work colleague agreed to be a surrogate mum.
Natasha Hutcheon and childhood sweetheart Peter Walker, both 31, have dreamed of having a baby together since they met as teenagers.
They thought their hopes were dashed when Natasha discovered she was unable to have children.
Now, after 89 hospital visits and two miscarriages in eight years, Natasha’s co-worker Katie Beardal is expecting their baby in September.
Unregulated Surrogacy Poses Risks for LGBT Couples, Warns Global Consultant
Source: Vision PRWeb
Same-sex couples who are considering gay surrogacy to conceive their families should examine the serious risks of unregulated programs overseas, said Bill Houghton, founder of the Sensible Surrogacy Guide.
As same-sex couples increasingly look for options to conceive children, many are choosing programs in countries without basic protections, according to Bill Houghton, founder of the Sensible Surrogacy Guide. Some destinations popular with gay couples have no specific legislation on surrogacy. This opens the door to unregulated programs with serious risks.
International – Children risk being “commodities” as surrogacy spreads
Source: Scoop World
Children risk being “commodities” as surrogacy spreads, UN rights expert warns
GENEVA (6 March 2018) – Children face becoming commodities as surrogacy arrangements become more prevalent, and urgent action is needed to protect their rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children has warned.
“There is no right to have a child under international law,” said Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, who presented a report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. “Children are not goods or services that the State can guarantee or provide. They are human beings with rights.
UK government: Parents should tell their surrogate children about their birth
Source: BioEdge
The UK’s Department for Health and Social Care has released new guidelines advising that children born via surrogacy be told of their origins.
The guidelines, released last Wednesday, are intended to “ensure LGBTQ+ individuals are given equal care, and that all surrogates and intended parents are treated with due dignity and respect”. The document states:
Research suggests that openness, confidence and transparency about a child’s origins from an early age (pre-school) is the best way to talk to children about their identity and origins. Your fertility counsellor should have given you the opportunity to explore how you feel about telling a child about their origins, and fertility counsellors would be happy to help you reach a decision about this at any time, as your thoughts and feelings about if, when and how to do this may change over time.
Fertility options for the LGBT community
Source: Out In Jersey
LGBT people have gradually stepped out from shadows over the last 50 years, not only transforming our own lives, but those of our families and communities. A generation or two ago, the children we raised were born of previous heterosexual relationships. This began to change in the 1970s and ‘80s, aided by helpful court rulings that reflected cultural sea change in attitudes toward gay people in general. In 1997, New Jersey became the first state to allow same-sex couples to adopt jointly.
Adoption, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and surrogacy are now viable avenues available for LGBT individuals and couples. Ultimately, the choice of how to build your family (adoption vs. fertility treatment) is a personal decision based on many factors. Those who seek help from assisted reproductive technologies want to have children with whom they share a genetic connection. What is this path like?
UK – First surrogacy guidelines for England and Wales released
Source BioNews
Appeared in BioNews 940
Government guidance has been issued for couples considering surrogacy in England and Wales, for the first time.
Two sets of guidelines have been released, one for surrogates and intended parents, and the other for healthcare professionals working with them.
Couples planning to enter into an agreement with a surrogate are recommended to use written agreements covering conception, expenses and any planned relationship between the surrogate and the child. They are also encouraged to use established surrogacy organisations in the UK to find a surrogate, rather than travelling abroad to clinics or using informal arrangements.
India – Sunny Leone welcomes sons via surrogacy
Source: Gulf News
Actress Sunny Leone on Monday surprised everyone by announcing the birth of her sons Noah and Asher via surrogacy.
She had adopted a girl, Nisha, in 2017.
Leone took to Twitter to post a picture of herself along with husband Daniel Weber and their three children.
Leone captioned it: “God’s plan! June 21st, 2017 was the day Daniel and I found out that we might possibly be having three children within a short amount of time. We planned and tried to have a family and after so many years [our] family is now complete with Asher Singh Weber, Noah Singh Weber and Nisha Kaur Weber.”
UK – Lawyers attack new surrogacy bill
Source: The Sunday Times
Surrogacy support groups and family lawyers have criticised the government’s planned new laws on surrogacy, which they say will force 80 couples a year to go abroad to have children.
The government’s deadline for submissions on the planned Assisted Human Reproduction Bill, which will set up a new regulatory regime for surrogacy and other forms of assisted reproduction, closed last week.
Australia – Surrogacy success for Hunter family with new baby after years of heartache, IVF, and two surrogates.
Source: Newcastle Herald
BY the time Kristy and Craig Darken found out they were going to be parents, they had almost given up all hope of holding a child of their own in their arms.
It had been close to eight years of highs and lows, of hope and of devastation, as the Elermore Vale couple trod the testing track of having a baby via a surrogate.
But then, countless counselling sessions, IVF, two surrogates and 10 embryos later, a tearful late night phone call came from Kristy’s sister, Rebecca.
“She was crying her eyes out,” Kristy said.
“I thought she was crying because she knew it was our last try. I thought she was devastated. Then finally, she said, ‘I’m pregnant. It worked’.
Tribunal grants maternity leave to govt. servant who begot children through surrogacy
Source: The Hindu
The Central Administrative Tribunal has come to the aid of a woman, working in the Ministry of Law & Justice, who was denied maternity leave as she had begotten her children through surrogacy.
The Tribunal directed the Ministry to sanction 180 days of maternity leave to the woman citing three high court’s verdicts which have held that the commissioning mother is also entitled for grant of maternity leave.
The woman is working as a Personal Assistant in the Legislative Department, Official Language Wing of Ministry of Law & Justice. As she was unable to conceive due to medical issues, she entered into Gestational Surrogacy Agreement with another woman.
Women seeking cheap fertility treatment abroad
Source: The Times
More than 3,000 women travel abroad for cheap assisted human reproduction treatments every year, a leading fertility doctor has estimated.
Dr John Kennedy, medical director of Virtus Health, the largest provider of fertility services in Ireland, said the figure included those who travelled to get conventional IVF treatments, egg donation and surrogacy services.
He said it was difficult to get exact figures because some women travelled without informing their fertility doctors, but that 3,000 was a reasonable estimate. The average cost of a cycle of IVF in Ireland is between €5,000 and €7,000, but can cost less than €3,000 in some eastern European countries. Dr Kennedy said these countries were always going to be cheaper, but there could be differences in quality of care.
Republican lawmakers enraged by passage of ‘The Uniform Parenting Act’
Source: Clark County Today
Senate Bill 6037 allows for paid surrogacy in the state of Washington
Sometimes I have the pleasure of telling you a story and sometimes the story just tells itself.
It’s safe to say a number of area lawmakers have had some tough days during the current legislative session in Olympia but the past 24 hours just might have been the toughest for Reps. Liz Pike (R — 18th District) and Vicki Kraft (R — 17th District) and others.
Pike, Kraft and their fellow lawmakers were on the floor of the house until after midnight in the a.m. hours of Wednesday. I spoke with Kraft by telephone this morning and I believe she told me that she was still testifying on the floor of the House of Representatives after midnight.
Ireland – Fertility expert: Surrogacy plans too restrictive
Source: Irish Examiner
A fertility expert has warned that plans to permit surrogacy in Ireland are too restrictive and that people would continue to seek surrogacy abroad even though it remains a grey area.
Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Mary Wingfield said the legal situation of those who employed surrogate mothers abroad should have been addressed in the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill.
Prof Wingfield was one of three fertility experts to discuss the proposed legislation at a meeting of the joint committee on health yesterday.