The recently proposed amendment to the Queensland Surrogacy Act will criminalise same-sex couples that wish to become a parent through surrogacy. This backwards step will mean that same-sex couples, singles or de facto opposite-sex couples will face three years imprisonment for engaging in an altruistic surrogacy arrangement.
Alarmed by the proposal, Surrogacy Australia met with the community in Brisbane to discuss actions that will campaign against this decision.
LGBT community advocate and Queensland psychologist Paul Martin insists that the amendment will further marginalise the LGBT community and existing same-sex parents.
‘25 percent of same sex couples are currently raising children and their families need protection from further stigmatisation’, he said.
Martin believes the proposed changes would breach federal Sex Discrimination Act and basic human rights obligations.
‘Taking away existing rights to a stigmatised minority will lead to increased levels of psychological stress for adults and their children,’ he said.
The Liberal National Party will also propose to block lesbian co-parents from being recognised as parents on birth certificates.
Previous to the last Queensland election, Premier Campbell Newman promised there would be no changes to the Surrogacy Act; he has since retracted this claim.
‘Over the whole 12-month period of the campaign I never at any stage had had any advice on the matter because it had been dealt with back in 2010.
‘Frankly, the mistake was not understanding what my MPs had been discussing’, he said.
Martin believes that a change in law would result in those effected moving interstate.
