Surrogacy and the Rights of Children

Surrogacy is an issue that, while many may not realise, will greatly affect society at all levels.

Australia and western civilisation have for centuries recognised and upheld some key principles, such as the natural human rights of children to have a relationship with their real (biological) mother and father. Society has also upheld that mothers and fathers have distinct characteristics and traits that children respond differently to, and that mothers and fathers are not interchangeable.

Mothers and fathers are essential in the lives of children for their full development. Societies across the globe and throughout the ages have always recognised that biology is the primary way parenthood is defined and while the state recognises parentage it does not control or assign it.

Surrogacy will bring untold damage to future generations of children by taking them away from their real and biological parents. Children are not the property of the State nor are they the property of their parents. They are, however, entrusted to the care of their real and natural parents. It is right and just that children are cared for and nurtured by their real parents. It is in fact the child's natural right to know and have a relationship with their real parents.

 For the State to separate children from their natural parents without the child's consent is a violation of their human rights. It is well recognised and scientific studies have shown that children have an intrinsic need for both a mother and a father. Most Australians support this view, as shown in a 2009 Galaxy poll where 86% of those surveyed agreed that children should be raised by their own mother and father. Children also need to have knowledge or the right to pursue knowledge of their natural biological mother and father, as is often the case with adopted children.

Surrogacy sets children as a commodity and a right of adults and not as individuals in which their rights are paramount and override the "needs", or more correctly put, the wants of adults. Children's rights need to be respected and protected.

Moreover, it is not in the best interest of children to allow surrogacy, in which children are deprived of their real mother, their real father or both. Noting that the roles of mothers and fathers are different, however complementary, they are not interchangeable, and thus children should not be deprived of the care of their real mother and a father.