Surrogacy Act 2010

A surrogacy arrangement means an arrangement, agreement or understanding between a woman and another person or persons under which—

the woman agrees to become, or try to become, pregnant with the intention that—

a child born as a result of the pregnancy is to be treated as the child, not of the woman, but of the other person or persons; and

the woman will relinquish to the other person or persons custody and guardianship of a child born as a result of the pregnancy; and

the other person or persons agree to become permanently responsible for the custody and guardianship of a child born as a result of the pregnancy.

Note—

Section 7(1) sets out only the minimum requirements for a surrogacy arrangement. There are many additional requirements which must be satisfied to obtain a parentage order under chapter 3. For example, independent legal advice must be obtained before entering into a surrogacy arrangement if transfer of parentage of the child born as a result of the arrangement is desired—see section 22(2)(e)(i).

There may be other parties to a surrogacy arrangement, for example, the woman’s spouse.

Notes—

1 The woman’s spouse (if any) must be a party to the arrangement if transfer of parentage of the child born as a result of the arrangement is desired—see section 22(2)(e)(v).

2 Spouse is defined in the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, schedule 1 to include a de facto partner and a civil partner.

Also, there may be other matters dealt with in a surrogacy arrangement.