‘Australian surrogacy laws need to change’: Same sex Sydney couple

AN eastern suburbs family is among the growing number of Australians heading to the US to fulfil their dream of starting a family through surrogacy

Chris Inzitari and his partner Sean Wheatley (with dog Charlie) are having twins through surrogacy. Picture: Craig Wilson

A PADDINGTON couple is among the growing number of Australians heading to the US to fulfil their dream of having children through surrogacy after India and Thailand closed their doors.

Chris Inzitari, 32, and partner Sean Wheatley, 26, said they were “beyond excited” about the imminent birth of twin boys to Californian surrogate mother Ashley, who is 29 weeks pregnant.

The couple said Australian laws had made it too difficult for them to start a family here so they decided to go through the process in California, which they felt was a more “ethical” choice than third world countries like Thailand.

“The agency carries out extensive background checks and screening of both surrogates and intended parents and a psychologist counsels us along every step of the way,” said Mr Wheatley.

The couple had also been put off by stories of parents not even being able to meet or even thank the surrogate in countries like India.

Mr Inzitari, whose sperm was used to fertilise eggs from a donor said: “We wanted our family to have a continued relationship with Ashley so the twins can have a strong sense of self identity and be proud of where they come from.

“We wanted to share our story to show how commercial surrogacy can be done well to protect the rights of the surrogate, the child and the intended parents.”

Chris Inzitari and Sean Wheatley with surrogate mother Ashley Brown, who is pregnant with their twins

The couple has called on the Australian Government to adopt the “California model” to allow commercial surrogacy and provide better protection for intended parents.

Only altruistic surrogacy is allowed in Australia and the name of the surrogate goes on the birth certificate, creating more red tape in getting legal parentage transferred and uncertainty for the intended parents who go through the process domestically.

“In California, Sean and I are the parents from day one and our names go on the birth certificate,” said Mr Inzitari.

But the gift of life has not come cheap for the couple, who estimate the final cost to hit $220,000, compared to about $40,000 in countries like Thailand.

Families Through Surrogacy estimates there were 96 births to Australian couples who had engaged a surrogate in the US last year, up from 69 in 2014.

Statistics from the Department of Immigration on the number of citizenship applications relating to Australian children born through international surrogacy in India dropped from 72 between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015 to 50 between July 1, 2015 and April 30, 2016.

For Thailand, the number dropped from 96 to 19 over the same period.

About 40 children a year are born through domestic surrogacy.

Chris Inzitari and his partner Sean Wheatley have urged the Australian Government to adopt the “Californian model” to surrogacy laws

FTS founder Sam Everingham said Australian laws had forced families into overseas markets.

“Couples are taking out second mortgages on their homes, asking relatives for financial help ... or engaging in cheaper, untested markets such as Cambodia,” said Mr Everingham.

“Many Australians have been scarred by incredibly stressful experiences in countries like India, Thailand and Nepal, experiencing roadblocks in getting children home, or reading about this in the media and have instead opted for safe, highly experienced alternative such as the US.”

The NSW Department of Justice is finalising its review of NSW surrogacy laws while the Federal Government is considering recommendations made by parliamentary committee, which tabled its report on May 4.

The committee made a raft of recommendations, including that the practice of commercial surrogacy remain illegal and the development of national uniform legislation.

It also recommended an audit of countries providing surrogacy to Australians and for the Australian Law Reform Commission to consider the need for a Government-administered surrogacy register, access to which may be granted following background checks, medical and psychological screening.

Families Through Surrogacy founder Sam Everingham with partner Phil and children Zoe and Ruby, who were born through surrogacy

Mr Everingham wants the Government to implement effective screening of Australians who are considering being surrogates.

He also wants compensation of Australian surrogates beyond expenses, up to a cap of $20,000 and called for the decriminalisation on overseas surrogacy which would “effectively see Nicole Kidman and hundreds of other parents behind bars if the Government ever applied its laws”.

Mr Everingham also called for a harmonisation of state laws, a national website resource for intended parents and changes to the family law act to allow children born via overseas surrogacy to be recognised as the legal child of its Australian parents.

Ashley Brown, who is carrying the Mr Inzitari and Mr Wheatley’s twins, said she wanted to be a surrogate so others could “experience the love and joy you only know after having kids”.

The mother-of-two was also inspired by her mother who was the third woman in the world to act as a surrogate and the first for the Center for Surrogate Parenting, the Californian agency which was engaged by the Paddington couple.

Ms Brown, 33, said she was “so excited” to give the couple experience “true love”.

She said the arrangement allowed her to give the couple the “gift of life” while allowing her the chance to go to university.

“I am giving them their dream while they are giving me mine,” she said.

Ms Brown said her son Bentley, 5 and daughter Brooklyn, 4 were also excited about the situation.

“They have had the opportunity on two occasions to meet Chris and Sean and they both love them so much and they are happy I am having babies for them.”

The twins would travel to Australia on tourist visas on their US passports while lawyers complete the process of applying for their Australian ones.

Families Through Surrogacy would host Australia’s annual consumer conference on surrogacy on June 4 and 5 in Brisbane, which will bring together surrogates, intended parents and professionals from around the globe.