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The parent who has provided the genetic material, either sperm or ovum, to create a foetus.

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are not a biological parent of the child.

are or were married to, or a de facto partner of, one of the child’s biological parents.

treat the child as a member of the family you formed with the biological parent, or did so while you were together

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Legal parental responsibility means being in charge of all major and long-term decisions relating to a child. As a step-parent you don’t automatically have legal parental responsibility for your stepchild. This means you can’t legally authorise medical care, apply for passports, sign school forms and so on.

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What is a foster parent???

Fostering is the temporary care for a child/children when their biological parents can no longer care for them.

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Foster Care Week 2016: thank you & we need more carers like you

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Immediate or Crisis Care

Explain

Long term- Permanent Care

Define

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Respite Care

what is this?

Short - Medium Term Care

define?

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Relative or Kinship Care

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Adoption is where the legal rights and responsibilities for a child are transferred from the child’s parents to the adoptive parent(s). Adoption orders in NSW are made by the Supreme Court (Department of Communities and Justice, 2020).

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What types of adoption are there? Share the 5 types

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Share your thoughts and comments on this story...

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Wally and Simon share their journey from Permanent Foster Care to Adoption

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What are your thoughts on this process?

Please share

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How long does the adoption process take?

Waiting times of several years are not uncommon. Many factors can affect the time the process takes, including:

the number and characteristics of children needing intercountry adoption

the number of applicants the partner country has already received

the age and needs of the child/children you have been approved to adopt

how long the partner country takes to process your application.

You can contact your state and territory central authority (STCA) for current waiting times for each partner country.

How much does adoption cost?

Adopting a child from overseas can be expensive. Fees vary between STCAs and the partner countries.

You should contact your local STCA for detailed costs.

You may also need to pay fees to the partner country, as well as paying for:

document preparation and translation

travel and accommodation costs

incidentals

Further information on fees charged by overseas authorities can be found at partner countries'.

Remember that paying your application fees doesn't guarantee that a child will be placed with you.

Other costs

Other immigration and documentation fees you will also need to pay include:

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Waiting times of several years are not uncommon. Many factors can affect the time the process takes, including: the number and characteristics of children needing intercountry adoption the number of applicants the partner country has already received the age and needs of the child/children you have been approved to adopt how long the partner country takes to process your application.

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Surrogacy is a form of assisted reproductive technology (ART) where a woman (the surrogate) offers to carry a baby through pregnancy on behalf of another person or couple and then return the baby to the intended parent(s) once it is born (IVF Australia, 2019).

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How does this story make you feel?

Is it right or wrong?

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Share your thoughts

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Posted May 09, 2019 05:50:22

Brisbane mum Charli Lee thought she knew what she was in for when she decided to carry a child for someone else.

As an altruistic surrogate, she would deliver a baby to a couple who couldn't do so themselves.

Charli wouldn't get any money for her efforts, but she would give the gift of life to a deserving, loving couple.

"It was something that I wanted to do ever since I saw a documentary as a teenager - at 31, I had already had five children of my own, so I was ready," she said.

"I always thought it was going to be an emotional rollercoaster, and it was. There were certainly some areas that I probably didn't consider."

The intended parents had furnished Charli with a debit card to pay for the incidental costs of carrying their baby.

The parents said they paid for whatever they could under the law and always asked for receipts.

Despite their generosity, there were many costs Charli felt were too small to bother getting reimbursed - but they all added up, right down to paying for parking at an appointment.

"Asking for money isn't something that surrogates are comfortable with by nature we are more giving than receiving," Charli said.

It was the unexpected loss of her job at the 26-week point in her pregnancy that put the most strain on Charli and her family.

"I had to rely on Centrelink which didn't cover my outgoings," she said.

"My intended parents covered my wages as much as they could, but they were bound by the law that states that any more would have been payment for surrogacy."

'I was very stressed out'

A solicitor for her intended parents worked out an amount that would cover Charli's lost wages and not put anyone at risk of being seen to "commercialise" the arrangement - a practice that is illegal in Australia.

When the money stopped coming in the eight weeks after Charli gave birth to her surrogate baby in December 2017 - another requirement of the current legislation - she struggled to find work again.

It made it tough for Charli to even put food on the table. Only now, over a year later, is she getting back on her feet.

"I haven't sat down to really consider [how much I lost], but it would definitely be in the thousands," Charli said.

"The financial effects took hold. I was grumpy and I was very stressed out - I just wanted to make things better.

"No-one was really to blame, except for the Australian law."

Charli wants to make it clear she has no beef with the baby's parents, as they did all they could, within the law, to help keep her afloat financially.

'Nearly all had suffered financially'

A new report by Surrogacy Australia - a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to supporting Australians through their surrogacy journeys - reveals stories like Charli's are not uncommon.

Surrogacy Australia President Sam Everingham said it surveyed 30 women who had acted as surrogates for people it had not previously known in Australia and New Zealand within the last six years.

"We were surprised by how many of these surrogates had found it very hard to ask for expense reimbursements from parents they worked with," he said.

"There were a lot of red flags about how surrogacy is currently working in Australia. Nearly all had suffered financially.

"When we say altruistic in Australia, we do not mean it is free.

"Originally it was, 'if you need it, we'll hire a cleaner, we'll get groceries delivered' ... but once I was pregnant, their finances didn't allow for that," said one surrogate surveyed in the report.

Another stated that, when her doctor requested she take some time off work, her intended mother had told her, "well, we can't really afford it this week. Can you have it next week?".

"I was really angry, they allowed a week of sick time over the whole pregnancy."

Overall, the report found many surrogates felt uncomfortable asking for reimbursements for small or undiscussed expenses, preferring to "take the suffering" on themselves.

Taking half-days off work to deal with pregnancy-related sickness, extra childcare and counselling for added emotional support during pregnancy attempts and pregnancies were just some of the unexpected costs surrogates bore.

'Greater legal consistency needed across the country'

Brisbane lawyer Stephen Page's firm covers about half of Australia's surrogacy arrangements, both domestically and internationally, and he said disputes over money largely happened when not enough thought was given to what the surrogate had to spend.

"Sometimes you find intended parents who have short arms and deep pockets," Mr Page said.

"Some see it as a transaction when it's not, it's a human experience, so of course they tend to be penny pinching."

And the business of surrogacy is no place for penny pinchers.

With the creation and transfer of embryos, legal and counselling costs, IVF treatments - which, when undertaken as part of a surrogacy arrangement, are not covered by Medicare - on top of the costs of a typical pregnancy, the costs for parents can easily blow the budget.

Mr Page warned his clients to set aside $70,000 for a surrogacy arrangement.

"The Federal Government has said time and time again there will be no break for those undertaking surrogacy," he said.

"So you have women who have suffered cancer or women who don't have a uterus, and they have to pay full freight for their IVF. I think that's a bit rich.

"There's no Medicare rebate, so we try to soften that blow for them financially and it ends up costing a fair bit of money on the surrogate's behalf."

Mr Page blames a failing legal system where there "is a patchwork of complicated legislation that changes from state to state".

"The thing about surrogacy is it is the most complex way to make a baby. It is not like having sex in a ute on a Saturday night, it is really, really complex.

"I want a national law - I'm sick to death of having to say, 'it's this in this state and this in that state'," he said.

"If you have a cross-border case it can get really, really messy."

Calls for nation-wide surrogacy legislation aren't new.

In 2013, the Family Law Council produced a report on Parentage and the Family Law Act, reviewing and making recommendations for the improvement of the current surrogacy system.

In 2016, there was a national inquiry into surrogacy matters and, in 2018, a follow up report by the Federal Government.

"It seems as though the Federal Government isn't doing anything, you can hear the crickets," Mr Page said.

Psychologist Narelle Dickinson, who offers counselling - a compulsory part of any surrogacy arrangement under Queensland legislation - said the 2016 inquiry was a "big lost opportunity to make simple changes".

"Like greater legal consistency across the country or implementing a compensatory support scheme, that would make things easier and safer for everyone involved," Ms Dickinson said.

'Like being a fairy godmother'

Charli, who has been a successful egg donor four times, said she would keep campaigning for fairer surrogacy laws.

"It is just magical handing over a baby to the new parents," Charli said.

"You can feel the electricity in the air it is such a beautiful experience - a bit like being a fairy godmother.

"I want to help another couple. It is something I can do, so why not?"

Charli has made friends for life with her first intended parents and is a loving "aunty" to their baby.

She is now thinking of birthing a surrogate baby for a second time.

Topics: health, reproduction-and-contraception, fertility-and-infertility, community-and-society, family-and-children, babies, law-crime-and-justice, family-law, babies---newborns, australia, qld, brisbane-4000

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'Like being a fairy godmother': Charli reveals the struggle and euphoria of being a surrogate

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Posted May 09, 2019 05:50:22 Brisbane mum Charli Lee thought she knew what she was in for when she decided to carry a child for someone else. As an altruistic surrogate, she would deliver a baby to a couple who couldn't do so themselves.

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She must be older than 25, and younger than the age of natural menopause (52 years of age). This may be increased slightly to 55 in the unique situation of a gestational surrogate who is the mother or mother-in-law of the intended parent.

Must have already given birth to a child of her own.

Have no history of pregnancy-related illnesses or complications.

Have an established relationship with the intending parents for a period of no less than 6 months by the time of embryo transfer.

Neither the surrogate nor intending parents suffer from any significant psychiatric disorder that would impair decision-making or the care of the child.

The surrogate must not use her own eggs although a third party donor is permissible.

IVF Australia

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What are your thoughts on this story?

Would you consider surrogacy?

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The love of a parent for their child is like no other. You'd do anything to guarantee your child's happiness and health. Antonietta Di Maggio has just done this for her daughter Claudia. Claudia was unable to have children, so Antonietta made the ultimate promise to her daughter - the gift of motherhood. At the age of 53, 27 years after giving birth to her last child, Antonietta carried and gave birth to Claudia's child: her own grandson. It's an incredible act of love and devotion from a mother to her daughter. And now that Claudia is a mum herself, she can understand the power and depth of her own mother's extraordinary love.

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For my daughter: 60 Minutes Season 2015, Short Video

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The love of a parent for their child is like no other. You'd do anything to guarantee your child's happiness and health. Antonietta Di Maggio has just done this for her daughter Claudia. Claudia was unable to have children, so Antonietta made the ultimate promise to her daughter - the gift of motherhood.

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Share your thoughts and ideas on the types of parents you have just explored.

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Would you consider adoption?

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