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Latest Surrogacy News
Oz Court Approves Gay
Co-Parenting
Peter Hacker
365Gay.com Newscenter Sydney, Australia Bureau
December 14,
2003
(Melbourne,
Australia) A Melbourne gay couple has been granted
co-parent status for a baby boy born to a surrogate
mother in the United States.
It is believed to be
the the first time in Australia that a court has
approved dual parental custody to a same-sex couple.
Family court judge
Sally Brown ruled that it was in the best interests of
one-year-old Mark to be looked after by the two men,
identified only as Mr X and Mr Y.
"I am satisfied it is
in Mark's best interests for significant decisions
relating to his welfare... to be made by both of the
people who treat him as their son, and that he can only
benefit from their informed involvement in all aspects
of his life," she said.
Justice Brown said she
believed that Mr X, who donated the sperm, was a parent
in the ordinary meaning of the word. She did not make a
legal finding on the fact, though, since that issue was
uncontested. Her comments contrast with an earlier court
ruling that a sperm donor was not a parent under the
terms of the Family Law Act.
Mark's surrogate
mother, Ms S, carried an embryo created from an
anonymously donated egg and Mr X's sperm as part of a
surrogate agreement reached in California.
Neither Ms S nor her
husband wished to have any parental relationship with
the boy, who has been in the care of Mr X, 38, and Mr Y,
41, since his birth on May 31, 2002.
Mr X and Mr Y had
sought orders from the court that they have joint
responsibility for the long-term care, welfare and
development of Mark and that he live with them.
Justice Brown said the
couple operated within a circle of extended family and
friends, and daily demonstrated their commitment to and
understanding of the responsibilities of parenthood.
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