In case you missed it, I am travelling on a Churchill Fellowship between late March and May 2025, to research best practice surrogacy, to inform law reform in Australia. My journey takes me from Melbourne to Cape Town, Ireland and England, Canada and the USA to meet with surrogacy experts, advocates, intended parents and surrogates around the world.
Very important: my office will be closed from mid-March to late May.
While I am gone I expect a few questions, which I have answered below:
What’s the Churchill Fellowship?
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust was established in 1965 following the death of Sir Winston Churchill, and was formed with the principal objective of perpetuating and honouring Sir Winston’s memory. Fellowships are awarded to individuals to allow them to travel overseas and research a topic they are passionate about.
My Churchill Fellowship project is to research best practice surrogacy frameworks to inform law reform in Australia.
There are only 130-150 surrogacy births in Australia each year, and over 300 babies born via international surrogacy for Australian intended parents. Many children born overseas are born in countries where surrogacy is unregulated, and there are risks for the babies and surrogates, and frequent allegations of human trafficking and exploitation. My Churchill Fellowship seeks to find ways to make surrogacy more accessible within Australia, to reduce the need for intended parents to travel overseas for surrogacy.
Will you be taking on new clients in April and May?
No, my office will be closed during April and until late May. I will not be scheduling any legal advice consults during my time overseas.
When is the last time we can get an appointment with you?
If you’re hoping to get legal advice before I leave, you need to book in soon. My last appointments will be in mid-March.
Can you suggest a lawyer to help us out while you’re gone?
For Australian surrogacy arrangements, you can contact the very awesome Simone Cureton – a surrogate and a lawyer too!
Our baby is due! Can you help us with our parentage order?
I can assist with your parentage order when I return from Leave. Read more about preparing for the parentage order.
Will you post updates and photos of your trip?
I’ll be posting regularly on the Blog, and photos on my Instagram. I will also make my final Churchill report available when it is published.
What if we need legal advice while you’re away?
I’m sorry, unless you are an existing client then I am unlikely to be able to help. However, if you are new to surrogacy, you can read about how to find a surrogate, or how to become a surrogate yourself. You can also download the free Surrogacy Handbook which explains the processes and options. You can find more information by reading articles in the Blog and by listening to more episodes of the Surrogacy Podcast.
Can we book in for advice for when you return?
Yes! You can check out the legal services I provide and book in for a consult with me here.
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.
