00:04how far would you go to start your own family even though we've tried different ways and
00:10options of having a baby nothing worked out they're desperate to grow their family some
00:16of them have long histories of infertility or pregnancy loss or cancer treatment and
00:21I think we can all feel sympathy for that story the surrogacy industry is worth billions of dollars
00:29starting at around a hundred thousand dollars per child is a realistic cost but here in Australia
00:37it's illegal to compensate surrogates for their time and the risk when we look at labor that is
00:44traditionally considered female labor women's work it is often devalued I think it's exploitative to
00:51expect a woman to work for free while everybody else makes money off her back supporters view the
00:58practice as a modern and miraculous way to have kids I'm just wanted and loved I'm not a transaction
01:04at all but critics warn it grooms and exploits women it never occurred to me that I could back out
01:12of it
01:12that would be refusing to allow them to have a child and turns babies into commodities it really
01:20can't be separated from the sale of children so can we minimize harm without curtailing freedoms and
01:29is our current system driving would-be parents into risky costly and legally tenuous arrangements
01:35overseas well it's called my body your baby and compass presenter who you just saw on your screen as
01:42well Siobhan Marin joins us now in the studio thank you so much for coming in my pleasure just tell
01:47us what
01:47the laws are around surrogacy here in Australia yeah so firstly it's complicated there's a patchwork
01:53of laws that really depends state to state but across the board altruistic surrogacy is allowed
01:58and that means that the surrogate the woman carrying the baby can't be paid at all she can't profit from
02:04it she can be reimbursed for medical costs you know time missing from work etc but there's a bunch of
02:09other laws that make things really complicated in some states you have to be over 25 years of age and
02:15already had your baby to become a surrogate in some states you can't advertise that you're looking
02:20for a surrogate or that you want to be a surrogate and there's also laws that prevent some Australians
02:26from going overseas to access commercial surrogacy but we have seen situations that ABC's reported on
02:32where couples have done that and technically broken the law but they haven't faced prosecution
02:37yeah so when people are looking to do this overseas what are the hurdles involved there both legally
02:43and cost wise as well oh it's really complicated I think most people that I've spoken to at least
02:49would always prefer to have their baby in Australia but unless you know somebody a family member or a
02:55friend who's willing to carry for you it's hard so people going overseas it can be in the hundreds of
03:01thousands of dollars realistically I spoke to one couple who are in the program Edward and Lewis
03:07they decided to do what's known as a parallel surrogacy journey so they had two babies at the
03:12same time one's related to each of the fathers and they have the same embryo you know egg donor
03:19and for them it was above two hundred thousand dollars and that's not including you know flights
03:25accommodation because you often have to stay in these countries for a long time to figure out the
03:30paperwork and ensure that when you return your baby will be seen as an Australian citizen
03:35you met that couple they have one particular perspective on surrogacy who else did you meet
03:40in the program yeah so I spoke to people with a range of different perspectives there was one woman
03:44Catherine who is an abolitionist and what I find really interesting is that there are people across
03:50the world who are very anti-surrogacy because they see it as exploitative of women and essentially
03:56the sale of children of course there are massive concerns particularly with overseas surrogacy
04:03arrangements but for Catherine it should be abolished in Australia she doesn't want our laws to be
04:08relaxed even further she's against altruistic surrogacy so she had one perspective but I also spoke to a
04:14young woman called Izzy who was a baby of surrogacy and she's now got her own child and she says
04:21that look I
04:22was loved by my parents who raised me and it doesn't matter if I came through a surrogacy arrangement
04:29you know I've had a wonderful life so it's one of those topics that really divides people and it is
04:36ethically complex that's one of the things I found so fascinating watching this episode of the different
04:41experiences you know so for one person it can be this miraculous incredible way to start a family
04:47family that they've wished for for many many years but for other people it can be full of pain and
04:52trauma for for the women and and the children as well yeah exactly so we also spoke to a woman
04:58we're
04:58calling Fiona we had to change her name for legal reasons she carried a baby for her sister so it
05:03was
05:03an altruistic model but that doesn't mean that it's ethical you know families can be really complicated
05:09sometimes there's an internal pressure to look after your sister who can't have a baby
05:14and for Fiona that pregnancy um it triggered close to perinatal psychosis she became suicidal it was a
05:23really traumatic experience for her both the carrying of the baby and the birth and she she doesn't want
05:30to balance surrogacy outright but she says that people really need to be careful and it's not a fairy
05:36tale in every situation Siobhan the Australian Law Reform Commission is currently reviewing surrogacy laws
05:42what do you think is likely to come from that yeah it's complicated I don't want to speculate too much
05:46but uh I
05:47spoke to one lawyer Sarah Jefford who specializes in surrogacy law and she's one of many who are pushing for
05:52compensation um so that women who choose to be surrogates in Australia are compensated for their time it's
05:58important to note that it would be over the course of the pregnancy um so that it's not an a
06:04cash exchange at the
06:05end when there's a baby because of course that does feel like the sale of a child um so it
06:11remains to be
06:12seen whether that will be the case uh July 29th is when we are hoping to see the review but
06:18until then
06:19hopefully people can tune into the episode and really you know contemplate how they sit with these
06:23issues it's a fascinating story thank you so much Siobhan Maren for coming in and speaking to us
06:28about it pleasure and you can watch that full episode of compass today at 6 30 p.m on abc
06:34tv and of course anytime on
06:36abc iview as well
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