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I am just wondering if anyone has any experience with this at all. I am wanting to find out a bit more about it. Someone very close to us is having trouble TTC and DH and I have talked in depth about helping them. I'm wanting to find out some more information about what is involved, if someone could please point me in the right direction? Thanks!
Soph - I dont know much myself but have you googled it (aust search only). I know that couples in Vic have to go to NSW to have it done , something about the legality of it here in Vic. But I think its wonderful that you are considering it - I would probably do it too for someone really close.
Best of luck,
Lisa
Soph,
is their problem related to carrying the baby, or a problem with their eggs/sperm? Most people don't require a surrogate unless they are unable to carry a child, and usually only require a donor egg/sperm/embryo instead. Before my sister truly understood my infertility issues, she told me she would carry a child for me. It was only when I explained that I had no problems carrying a child, but had problems concieving that she realised that surrogacy wasn't necessary for me. I still love her for her offer though.
Paid surrogacy is illegal in all states of Australia, and only a few states allow altruistic surrogacy. I imagine that it would be a huge step to take for your friend, and for you, but if this is something you can help them achieve, it would be a truly amazing gift.
Thanks Sushee and Lisa.
Lisa - yeap I have googled it. Lots of bits and pieces of info here and there.
Sushee - I'm not 100% sure, they are in the process of doing IVF which so far hasn't been succesful. She did fall pg a while ago but m/c and now due to age are trying via IVF. I don't think there is anything wrong with sperm or eggs, it just isn't happening. I just wanted to find out as much as I could myself before we discuss it with them. I wouldn't donate an egg, I would only carry a child that was biologically theirs, otherwise I just think the issue would get even more complex than it already would be. Anyway I'm still on an info gathering mission so we'll just see what I find out. I guess I will keep :pray: that they fall pg soon via IVF in the meantime.
I've been over and over this when we thought last year I may not able to carry again due to health problems.
My understanding from a few Dr's I talked to, was that you can only be a surrogate via IVF, if the surrogate mum requires IVF to fall pregnant herself.
I had 2 friends offer to surrogate for me (if it came to that!), and only 1 could because she required IVF to conceive her own children, although, I was told that it would be highly unlikely I'd get the ok through the courts anyway, here in Victoria.
This is old, but is apparently still the case (refer below for article)
I looked into surrogate laws when I lost two babys in the second trimester, we had to do IVF to fall pregnant so we had embies there to be transfered. Two closest friends offered one being my SIL who we would of prefered to go with as she had finished her family where as the friend had no children. What we were having to do was transfer the embies to another state (NSW) and then fly back and forth to have the treatment done. Thankfully we did find a way to carry a baby.I think it is an amazing thing for another women to offer to do
Bec
We don't allow links on BB, *las*, so I have removed the link in your post and have copied and pasted the article here:
:
'Bizarre' fertility law challenged
By Carol Nader Health Reporter
September 7, 2005
DOCTORS are urging the Victorian Government to overturn fertility laws that allow only infertile women to become surrogate mothers.
The laws — which some have branded bizarre — are so restrictive that women who want to have babies through surrogacy are forced to go to other states or overseas for the procedure.
While surrogacy is technically legal in Victoria, it is virtually impossible to carry out because of a multitude of obstacles. Doctors say women either give up or pursue the treatment in NSW or Canberra. Some even go to the US, where surrogacy is much more widespread — and commercial.
The woman commissioning the surrogacy usually has a damaged uterus or a medical condition that makes carrying a baby dangerous, or has had a hysterectomy.
An embryo is created through IVF, using the commissioning woman's eggs and the sperm of her partner or a donor, and implanted in the infertile surrogate mother.
The Victorian Law Reform Commission is reviewing surrogacy laws and is expected to make recommendations next month. Chairwoman Marcia Neave said the infertility requirement was "a bizarre rule".
"The principle that the surrogate mother has to be infertile seems to be irrational," she said.
A Government spokesman said the recommendations were awaited with interest.
The rationale behind the law is that only people who are infertile can access IVF.
Retired gynaecologist John Leeton, who was involved in the state's only known IVF surrogacy birth 17 years ago, said the other major problem with the law was that the surrogate was the legal mother and had the right to keep the baby.
Dr Leeton said there were dozens of Victorian couples who had sought this treatment but had given up and gone elsewhere, which was difficult because of travel and expenses.
"There's no surrogate list in Victoria because the whole thing is such a no-no. It's a tragedy," he said.
Maggie Kirkman became Victoria's first recipient of a baby through surrogacy 17 years ago. Her sister Linda was the gestational mother. Dr Kirkman said yesterday: "I think the laws are a bit strange in that it's only infertile women who are allowed to be surrogate mothers. That clearly is an anomaly in the law and one that I expect the Law Reform Commission to address."
Melbourne IVF chairman John McBain, who sees five women a year seeking surrogacy, said it could be helpful for women who did not have a uterus or had recurrent pregnancy loss due to a weakness in the neck of the womb.
"There are women who've lost one baby after another because the cervix isn't strong enough to hold on to a pregnancy," he said. "That happens, distressingly, between 16 and 26 weeks of pregnancy."
Dr McBain said fertility laws were supposed to help infertile couples have children but instead seemed designed to decide who could have them or prohibit ways in which they could have children.
Monash IVF managing director Donna Howlett said the clinic referred 10 women a year seeking surrogacy. She said there was a perception in the community that it was illegal, otherwise the numbers would be much higher.
"(The law) makes no sense in this current form other than it being there as an intentional barrier to make surrogacy difficult in Victoria," she said.
VICTORIAN SURROGACY LAWS
■Prohibit any financial arrangements but payment of expenses may be permitted.
■The surrogate mother must be infertile.
■The surrogate is legally the mother at birth.
Hey I'm also interested in being a surrogate for a friend and I came across the same article recently but there didn't seem to be any more current articles..
Does anyone know anymore about this supposed "looking into" of this issue or has it just been pushed aside for the last 5 years in favour of something "more important"?
laws regarding surrogacy in Vic changed recently but i can't tell you much about it. i know it was updated to stop it being illegal as such, but it's still damn hard to access.:
i would googled surrogacy law vic and see what comes up - if nothing decent, maybe contact one of the IVF clinics and ask if they have reference material they can direct you too (so monash or melb ivf)
:redface: well just to start im no dr ok nor do i know any thing about this topic BUT..
i did wach a tv show not long agao something like a current affair maybe ?? any way...
they did surrogacy in canberra and it had to be all done through ivf..
so not sure if canberra still does it but worth finding out
good luk to you all this is very interesting
ps// i just went and googled this and it really just says to talk to your local ivf clinic ..
Hi Soph,
I think it is wonderful that you are willing to do this for your friend. Knowing the pain that she would be in due to her difficulty TTC, I might suggest that you find out more details from her as to the reasons for their infertility, before offering to be a surrogate. I have had my mother and several friend offer to be a surrogate, and whilst I am very appreciative that they love me enough to do this for me, it was also extremely difficult to hear it, as it almost reinforces my fear that I will never concieve a child.
I am not yet ready to consider that this may occur, so the offer was not appropriate for me at this stage in my TTC journey and a little confronting. I hope this makes some sense.
Again, I think you are wonderful for considering this and wish your friend the best.