Australians are spending extraordinary amounts of money overseas, to build their families via surrogacy. They are doing so not because they want to, but because they feel they have no real choice.

Each year, more than 500 Australians pursue international surrogacy. We know over 350 children are born via international surrogacy each year, for Australian intended parents. The cost per journey is rarely less than $150,000 and can easily exceed $300,000, depending on the country, medical needs, agency fees, legal complexity and travel. That means Australians are sending well over $75 million offshore every single year in pursuit of parenthood.

Let that sink in.

Seventy-five million dollars is a conservative figure. It is likely much more, leaving Australia each year, because our domestic surrogacy framework is too restrictive, too uncertain, and too inaccessible for many intended parents.

In countries such as United States, intended parents may pay USD $150,000–$300,000 in agency and surrogate-related costs alone, before medical expenses and travel. In other countries like Georgia or Colombia, the headline figure may be lower, but the risks and legal uncertainties can be significantly higher.

This is not discretionary spending. These are life savings, second mortgages, superannuation withdrawals and family loans. People are refinancing homes and draining retirement funds to have children.

And they are doing so because Australian law makes altruistic surrogacy extraordinarily difficult to navigate. The biggest hurdle to surrogacy in Australia is finding a surrogate, with over 80% of arrangements between friends and family.

Australia permits only altruistic surrogacy. Commercial surrogacy is prohibited in every state and territory, and in some jurisdictions it is a criminal offence for Australians to enter commercial arrangements overseas. Criminalising international commercial surrogacy does not work.

Intended parents may wait years to find a surrogate. Many never do. Surrogates themselves often carry significant financial and emotional burdens, with limited structural support.

So Australians look overseas, despite 92% of intended parents (Kneebone et al) being willing to engage in domestic surrogacy, if they thought it was an option.

When $75 million or more flows offshore each year, that represents:

• Lost economic activity

• Lost tax revenue

• Missed opportunities for our medical and legal sectors

• Increased strain on government departments processing overseas births and citizenship applications

It also means that Australian families are navigating foreign legal systems, unfamiliar medical standards and geopolitical risk. We have seen programs close abruptly. Borders close. Parents have been stranded overseas with newborns.

This is not a stable or sustainable policy outcome.

Making surrogacy more accessible within Australia does not require abandoning altruism. But it does require reform.

We need:

• A nationally consistent surrogacy framework

• Proper regulated compensation for surrogates

• Government-funded IVF for surrogacy arrangements

• Independent escrow financial regulation

• Clear, pre-birth parentage pathways

• Public education and ethical matching systems

If even a portion of that $75 million were redirected into a regulated Australian system, we could build something ethical, transparent and safe, for surrogates, intended parents and children.

Right now, Australians are exporting both their money and their vulnerability. Family creation should not depend on who can afford a six-figure overseas gamble.

If we truly value children’s rights, and if we genuinely respect the generosity of Australian surrogates, then we must create a domestic system that works.

Because the current reality is clear: Australians are already spending the money.

The question is whether we want that investment – financial, emotional and social – to strengthen families here at home, or continue flowing offshore year after year.

You can read a broad overview for surrogacy in Australia and how it works.

You can find more information in the free Surrogacy Handbook, reading articles in the Blog, by listening to more episodes of the Surrogacy Podcast. You can also book in for a consult with me below, and check out the legal services I provide.