Plan B Forum

Two dads and a surrogate create legal landmark

TWO men have become the first same-sex couple in New South Wales to be declared the parents of a baby that was born through a surrogate, with a court ruling it was in the child's "best interests".

In transferring the guardianship of the child to the two men, a Supreme Court judge was satisfied the pregnancy wasn't the result of an illegal commercial agreement and that the woman who carried the baby wasn't paid to do so.

The child, born in April, 2010, now has the two Sydney men as parents, with the birth mother agreeing to no longer be recognised on the birth certificate.

The judgment was handed down in the Supreme Court last month, with Justice Paul Brereton noting it was "the first application under the Act of which I am aware in which in the intended parents are a same sex couple".

The court heard the three had only an "oral arrangement" for the surrogacy but an affidavit from the birth mother was tendered, indicating she "consents" to the two men being declared the parents.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/two-dad ... z1wU8kXWGw

Scooter wrote:And just because I know it will drive some people over the edge...

British Columbia is in the process of promulgating a new Family Law Act that will recognize up to five people as a child's parents: two "intended parents", a sperm donor, an egg donor, and a surrogate.

The Hen wrote:

The court heard the three had only an "oral arrangement" for the surrogacy.....