Surrogacy Act 2022

A surrogacy arrangement, other than a commercial surrogacy arrangement, may provide for the payment or reimbursement of the reasonable costs associated with the following:

the surrogate mother trying to become pregnant, being pregnant and giving birth;

the surrogate mother and her partner, if any, entering into or being a party to the surrogacy arrangement;

the surrogate mother and her partner, if any, being a party to proceedings under this Act.

Without limiting subsection (1), reasonable costs include the following:

reasonable medical expenses incurred by the surrogate mother associated with the surrogacy arrangement, whether incurred prior to conception, during the pregnancy or because of the birth of the child, that are not recoverable under Medicare, health insurance or any other scheme;

reasonable counselling costs incurred by the surrogate mother and her partner, if any, associated with the surrogacy arrangement, including the counselling under sections 22 and 23 and preparation of the report under section 24;

reasonable legal costs incurred by the surrogate mother and her partner, if any, associated with the surrogacy arrangement, including the advice under section 20, the certificate under section 21 and the costs associated with being a party to proceedings under this Act;

reasonable costs for a child born as a result of the surrogacy arrangement, including reasonable medical costs for the child;

reasonable out of pocket costs incurred by the surrogate mother associated with the surrogacy arrangement or the child;

income lost by the surrogate mother caused by being unable to work on medical grounds associated with the pregnancy and by taking up to 2 months unpaid leave for the birth;

insurance premiums for health, life or disability insurance for the surrogate mother, or for increasing the cover of an existing policy for the surrogate mother, for the period from entering into the surrogacy arrangement until the surrogate mother's postnatal recovery.

Examples for subsection (2)(e)

Costs of travel, accommodation, childcare and housekeeping and postnatal expenses.

A provision in a surrogacy arrangement to provide for the payment or reimbursement of reasonable costs allowed under subsections (1) and (2) is enforceable if:

the cost was incurred; and

the cost is not recoverable under Medicare, health insurance or any other scheme.

Division 2 Requirements for surrogacy arrangement