IVF Lawyers
IVF lawyers exist as the process of in vitro fertilisation raises legal considerations most people never expect to face. Who is the parent when donor eggs or sperm are used? What happens to frozen embryos if a relationship ends due to separation or divorce? Can you move embryos to another clinic, or use a partner’s sperm after they die?
The Family Village gives IVF legal advice to people across Australia, from Sydney and Melbourne to Brisbane and the Gold Coast. We explain where you stand under Australian law before treatment, and we protect your interests when something goes wrong.
How can an IVF Lawyer help?
We advise couples, single women, same-sex couples, donors and people with embryos in storage on:
Parentage after IVF
See IVF parentage disputes
Frozen embryos and gametes
Consents, storage, separation and moving embryos. See embryo freezing and gamete transfers.
Donor eggs, sperm and embryos
See donor conception
Posthumous conception
See posthumous conception
IVF, followed by surrogacy, including international surrogacy
See surrogacy lawyers
Clinic errors and complaints
Who is the legal parent after IVF?
Contact UsThe woman who gives birth is the baby’s legal mother. If she has a husband, wife or de facto
partner who consented to the IVF procedure, that partner is the other legal parent. This applies to opposite-sex and same-sex couples, including two mums using reciprocal IVF.
A person who donates eggs, sperm or embryos through a clinic isn’t a legal parent.
These rules come from the Family Law Act 1975 and each state’s Status of Children Act. Read more on who is a parent under the Family Law Act.
The position is less certain when a single woman uses a known donor, or when conception happens outside a clinic. That’s where advice before treatment matters most.
What happens to frozen embryos in IVF disputes?
Frozen embryos are controlled by the consent forms you signed when they were created. Usually, an embryo can’t be transferred to a uterus, donated or discarded without the consent of both people who created it.
This matters if you separate with embryos in storage, disagree about what to do with them, want to move them to another clinic, state or country, or reach a storage time limit. Disputes after separation often involve family lawyers too, and we can work alongside yours.
Using donor eggs, sperm or embryos
Donors can’t be paid beyond reasonable expenses, and donor-conceived people have a right to find out who their donor is. If you’re using a known donor, a written donor agreement records expectations about contact, what the child is told and what’s shared on social media.
What if the IVF clinic makes a mistake?
Clinic errors are rare, but the stories that reach the news show how serious they can be. The Monash IVF embryo mix-up is one example. If something has gone wrong, ask the clinic for your records and a written explanation. Your options may then include a complaint to the clinic and your state’s health complaints body, or a compensation claim. We can also advise on any parentage questions.
IVF laws in Australia
IVF is regulated by federal law, state law and national guidelines.
Federal: the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002 (which bans paying for eggs, sperm and embryos), the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002, the Family Law Act 1975, and the NHMRC ethical guidelines that all accredited clinics follow.
States and territories:
Queensland
Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2024, commencing in stages
New South Wales
Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2007
Victoria
Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008
South Australia
Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 1988
Tasmania and Northern Territory
No IVF-specific Act, so clinics follow the NHMRC guidelines
ACT
Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2024
Western Australia
Human Reproductive Technology Act 1991, to be replaced by the Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Act 2025
These laws cover access, consent, storage limits, donor limits and donor information. Medicare rebates also vary, especially where IVF is linked to surrogacy. Katie has written about Medicare, IVF and surrogacy.
Why Choose The Family Village IVF Lawyers?
Katie Cox is a solicitor who went through years of IVF before her son was born through surrogacy. She knows what treatment is like from the patient’s chair. Her surrogate, Sally, now works with her at the firm. Read more about Katie and the team.
Book a consultation, tell us where you are in treatment, and we’ll explain your options and next steps. We meet by video, phone or in person on the Gold Coast.
Book a ConsultationQuestions we get asked about the legal aspects of ivf
Most couples using their own eggs and sperm don’t. Get advice if you’re using a known donor, have embryos in storage and your relationship has changed, want to move embryos, or something has gone wrong at the clinic.
Embryos aren’t treated like ordinary property. Their use is controlled by the consents of the people who created them, and usually both must agree.
Usually, yes, with both parties’ consent and both clinics’ agreement. Moving embryos overseas may need approvals. We can help if a clinic won’t release them.
Yes, in most states. Western Australia currently ties access to a medical reason, but its new law is expected to change this.
