Surrogacy under fire
| 23 February 2010
The debate over altruistic surrogacy is continuing in Queensland with the state’s Premier urging MPs to consider the children of same-sex couples.
Premier Bligh said the children of same-sex parents could be treated as "second-class" children if same-sex couples are excluded from surrogacy arrangements.
Currently the state’s MPs have been given a rare conscience vote on whether to decriminalise altruistic surrogacy, where a woman has another couple's child for no payment.
Under the proposed reforms, legal parentage of a child born under such an agreement would be transferred from the birth mother to the parent, or parents, who commissioned the birth.
Also being debated is an opposition bill which would jail same-sex couples for making surrogacy arrangements.
The Australian reports that the state’s Opposition frontbencher Ray Hopper said the Bligh Government is “pushing for surrogacy to be accepted for many reasons”:
“So same-sex couples can feel good to gain popularity and in doing so reducing children to the status of pets,” Hopper said.
He argued that the Government hadn't considered the ramifications of everyday matters like using public toilets:
“Just look at the first five years of a child's life when you've got two mothers,” he said.
“How do you take them to a public toilet when you go on a so-called family outing?”
It was also reported that Independent MP Liz Cunningham broke down in tears during the debate, saying she opposed same-sex couples having children.
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