Western Australia is the last state or territory in the country where altruistic surrogacy is illegal for same-sex couples. While the State Government says it intends to introduce new laws to address the discrimination, it hasn't said when - and anxious couples say they're being left in limbo.
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00:00 Perth fiancés Craig and Stephen appear to have a perfect life, but to them it's missing
00:06 something.
00:07 Myself and my partner Stephen, we've always wanted children, you know, even before we
00:10 met.
00:11 It was always a thing.
00:12 We couldn't imagine our lives without a child.
00:14 Craig and his partner have wanted to have a baby via a surrogate for years, but it's
00:18 illegal for them in Western Australia.
00:20 They were looking overseas until the state government announced an overhaul of WA's surrogacy
00:24 laws, allowing single men, same-sex couples, as well as transgender and intersex people,
00:30 access to surrogacy.
00:31 It is well understood that Western Australia's legislation governing reproductive technology
00:35 and surrogacy has not kept pace with medical advancements and societal changes.
00:40 Western Australia's legislation is discriminatory and out of date.
00:44 But the state government hasn't given a time frame for when it will introduce those laws,
00:48 leaving couples in limbo.
00:50 We don't want to lose this in the passage of time.
00:52 We want to, you know, still be fit and able when they do, you know, become of age, whether
00:56 running around and whatnot.
00:57 And we don't want to just kind of get tired.
01:02 Marty Kavanagh was on a ministerial expert panel that recommended the government adopt
01:06 the changes.
01:08 He says family planning takes even longer for same-sex couples.
01:11 It is urgent.
01:12 If you're in your early 30s and you want to have a family, and you know this process is
01:16 going to take two, three or four years anyway, you really want to get on with it.
01:20 It's not the same as just a heterosexual couple decide to conceive and are lucky enough to
01:24 conceive.
01:26 The changes will bring WA into line with the rest of the country, facilitating altruistic
01:30 surrogacy where the mother can be reimbursed but not paid.
01:34 The state government is still preparing legislation but won't say when it will be introduced to
01:38 parliament.
01:39 [BLANK_AUDIO]