Tyrannical government surrogacy regulations in the Australian State of Victoria

Taking a treasured child away from its father benefits whom? Knowall Leftist regulators obviously don't even consider that.

Stephen Conroy and his wife may be forced to leave their home in Victoria to avoid state laws prohibiting them from adopting a child from a surrogate birth. The couple on Monday announced the birth of Isabella in a Sydney hospital after a close family friend donated an egg that Senator Conroy fertilised by IVF. The fetus was then incubated by a third woman - another friend of the couple. But according to the Victorian Law Reform Commission, the couple have no rights to the baby, even though the Labor senator provided the sperm used to conceive the child.

They had resorted to a surrogate birth because Senator Conroy's wife Paula Benson was unable to conceive or carry a child after suffering ovarian cancer. The IVF process and birth took place in Sydney because surrogacy is illegal in the couple's home state of Victoria. Any arrangement with the surrogate mother has no legal validity in Victoria and Senator Conroy is not considered the father. Victorian law states: "The surrogate mother and her partner, if any, are the child's parents, regardless of any agreement or arrangement between the parties. "The commissioning couple are not the parents of the child even if sperm and/or eggs have been provided by the commissioning couple. "The Infertility Treatment Act makes all surrogacy agreements void." The surrogate parents cannot transfer guardianship of the child to the "commissioning couple", nor can they permanently surrender the right to care for the child.

Senator Conroy and his wife can apply for a parenting order from the Family Court of Australia that would give them legal rights and responsibilities over the girl until she turns 18. However, the surrogate mother would still be considered the mother. The baby can be adopted in Victoria only if the surrogate mother is related to Ms Benson. The couple has not revealed the identity of the egg donor or the surrogate - describing them only as close friends.

In NSW, the surrogate is also considered the baby's mother. But according to the Department of Community Services, which handles adoptions in NSW, Senator Conroy and his wife could adopt Isabella. "It's the same as the process that step-parents wanting to adopt a child would go through," a spokeswoman said.

Source

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation. Both Australia and Sweden have large private sector health systems with government reimbursement for privately-provided services so can a purely private system with some level of government reimbursement or insurance for the poor be so hard to do?

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