Legal advice for intended parents
Surrogacy and donor conception both involve legal steps that have to happen in a specific order. Getting legal advice before you start protects you, your surrogate or donor, and the child. It also means the paperwork holds up later, when you apply for a parentage order.
At The Family Village, Katie advises intended parents at every stage: working out whether you are eligible for surrogacy, connecting with a surrogate or donor, drafting agreements, and applying for parentage and parenting orders after the birth. This page explains what is involved and where advice fits in.
Do you need a lawyer for surrogacy in Australia?
Yes. Australian law requires each party in a surrogacy arrangement, the intended parents and the surrogate, to receive their own independent legal advice and counselling before signing a surrogacy agreement. That agreement then has to be signed before any fertility treatment begins (Attorney-General’s Department).
Getting the order right matters. Treating legal advice as something to sort out later is one of the most common ways intended parents run into problems, because if treatment starts before the agreement and advice are in place, it can affect a parentage order application after the birth. Donor conception carries its own legal requirements too, particularly around consent and the legal status of the donor, and these need the same early attention.
How we help intended parents
Legal advice for intended parents at The Family Village covers:
- Working out whether you meet the eligibility criteria for surrogacy in your State or Territory
- Connecting with a surrogate, including advice on approaching the relationship
- Explaining how the process works from the first conversation through to the parentage order
- The legal advice required before fertility treatment can begin
- Drafting the surrogacy agreement
- Donor conception and donor agreements
- International surrogacy options, including bringing a child born overseas back to Australia
- Importing or exporting gametes and embryos
- Preparing and lodging applications for parentage orders after the birth
Eligibility rules differ by state. In most jurisdictions, intended parents need a medical or social reason for surrogacy. Victoria requires a formal review or approval process before treatment. Katie can tell you what applies where you live.
Consultations run by Zoom, phone or in person. Book a time or visit our contact page.
What is the order of legal steps?
The legal side of a surrogacy arrangement for intended parents runs, roughly, in this order:
Confirm eligibility and get an initial legal consultation
Find a surrogate (often the longest and least predictable stage)
Counselling for all parties, separate from legal advice
Draft and sign the surrogacy agreement, with independent legal advice for each party
Fertility treatment begins, only after the agreement is signed
Pregnancy and birth
In some states, a post birth counselling is required
Apply to the relevant state or territory court for a parentage order
Once granted, the birth certificate can be reissued with the intended parents’ names
Timelines vary by state and by how many IVF cycles are needed. Two to five years from first decision to parentage order is not unusual. Getting advice early, before any steps are taken, is what keeps this on track. You can see the full picture on our surrogacy journey page.
Domestic or international surrogacy
Contact UsSome intended parents pursue surrogacy overseas rather than in Australia. This comes with a separate set of legal questions: which country’s laws apply, what is required to bring your child home, and how Australian citizenship and immigration requirements interact with a birth that happened overseas. It can also carry real legal risk depending on your state of residence.
Katie advises on international surrogacy as well as domestic arrangements, so you can weigh both with a clear understanding before committing to either.
About Katie
Katie founded The Family Village after years of IVF and a five-year journey to find a surrogate for her own family. Her son Vinnie was born via surrogacy in 2022. She has 19 years of legal experience and is a member of the Queensland Law Society.
Katie’s own surrogate, Sally, now works alongside her at The Family Village, supporting other intended parents and surrogates through the same process they have both been through themselves.
Contact UsQuestions intended parents ask us
Yes. Each party to a surrogacy arrangement needs their own independent legal advice before signing the surrogacy agreement, and that advice has to come from a separate lawyer to the other party’s.
Altruistic surrogacy, where the surrogate is reimbursed for reasonable pregnancy-related expenses only, is legal across Australia. Commercial surrogacy, where a surrogate is paid beyond her expenses, is illegal in every state and territory (Attorney-General’s Department).
The surrogate is the child’s legal parent at birth, regardless of any genetic connection to the intended parents until a court grants a parentage order. This is exactly why the agreement, counselling and independent advice happen before treatment starts, so everyone understands the process and their role going in.
It is possible, but it involves separate legal requirements around citizenship, immigration and the recognition of parentage, on top of the laws of the country where the surrogacy takes place, and it can carry legal risk depending on your state. This needs advice specific to your situation before you begin.
Before you approach a potential surrogate or donor, and well before any fertility treatment. Advice has to come before the surrogacy agreement is signed, and the agreement has to come before treatment. Getting advice at the very start avoids having to unpick steps taken in the wrong order.
Get in touch
Speak with Katie about your situation, whether you are just starting to research surrogacy or donor conception, or you are partway through the process already.
Book an appointmentOr visit our contact page
