I am beyond excited to be spearheading the inaugural Fertility Law & Ethics conference to be held in Melbourne 9-10 October 2025.

For a long time, I’ve thought that fertility law professionals needed a forum to come together and learn and develop our practice. As fertility lawyers and counsellors, we are often siloed from each other by confidentiality. While lawyers and counsellors have professional membership organisations, there is no conference or body that brings legal and counselling professionals together. I have great working relationships with many professionals in the field and we’ve often talked about the need for a collaborative forum for all of us.

The inaugural Fertility Law & Ethics conference will bring together professionals from across Australia and New Zealand. We have a full two-day program for legal professionals, counsellors and researchers to learn from each other and develop our practice knowledge and skills.

With fertility clinics in the spotlight, and the recent announcement of a three-month rapid-review of the industry, it’s time to consider the future of IVF and family creation in Australia.

Australia and New Zealand is poised to address critical issues shaping the future of reproductive health and rights. Recognising the need for open, honest dialogue, industry professionals are calling for conversations around surrogacy law reform, posthumous use of gametes, embryo ownership, donor conception, and mitochondrial donation treatments.

This landmark event will bring together clinicians, psychologists, legal practitioners, and researchers to collaborate, learn, and lead the way towards an ethically guided future in fertility care.

Participants will explore how best to uphold the rights of patients, parents, donors, and individuals born from fertility treatments, ensuring that advancements are matched with ethical responsibility. Industry leaders emphasise that it is time for the sector to take the lead in shaping policies and practices that reflect the values of transparency, respect, and human rights.

“We need to have difficult conversations about what fertility looks like in the future for Australia, and industry professionals must step forward to guide these discussions,” said family creation lawyer, Sarah Jefford. “This conference is an important step towards establishing a future grounded in ethics and best practice.”

The Fertility Law & Ethics conference would not be possible without the support of the Family Law Section, New Zealand’s Margaret Casey KC, and ANZICA, and I’m grateful for my colleagues indulging my little dream and helping to make it come true.

The timing couldn’t be more perfect, with the Australian Law Reform Commission looking at surrogacy laws and human tissue laws in simultaneous reviews.

I am excited to present the findings of my Churchill Fellowship to the conference, and to hear from experts in the field on supporting and managing surrogacy teams. My New Zealand colleague Margaret Casey KC will be updating us on law reform developments in New Zealand. There will be sessions on surrogacy, donor conception, embryo ownership, posthumous use of gametes and infertility, and future issues in fertility treatments. It will be open to counsellors, lawyers, judicial officers, policy makers and allied professionals.

Event and registration details, and the full program are available now – register here.

Sarah Jefford OAM is a family creation lawyer in Melbourne, practising in surrogacy and donor law across Australia. Sarah has been an egg donor, and a surrogate, delivering a baby for two dads in 2018. Sarah has published a book, More Than Just a Baby: A Guide to Surrogacy for Intended Parents and Surrogates, the only guide to surrogacy in Australia.