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 surrogacy 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 us to come together.
The inaugural Fertility Law & Ethics conference will bring together professionals from across Australia and New Zealand. We are developing a full two-day program for legal professionals, counsellors and researchers to learn from each other and develop our practice knowledge and skills.
The Fertility Law & Ethics conference would not be possible without the support of the Family Law Section, NZ barrister 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 will be available soon – watch this space.
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.
Hi! I’m Sarah Jefford (she/her). I’m a family creation lawyer, practising in surrogacy and donor conception arrangements. I’m an IVF mum, an egg donor and a traditional surrogate, and I delivered a baby for two dads in 2018
I advocate for positive, best practice surrogacy arrangements within Australia, and provide support and education to help intended parents make informed decisions when pursuing overseas surrogacy.
