Intended parents, surrogates and their partners must complete a pre-surrogacy process, to qualify for a parentage order after the baby arrives.

The pre-surrogacy process, generally speaking, follows these steps:

1. Eligibility met: The intended parents must be eligible for for surrogacy. In most states, this means that they have a medical or social reason for surrogacy.
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2. Surrogate Medical Clearance: A surrogate must also meet criteria, which varies but usually means she must be over 25. In some states, she must have had children previously. A surrogate needs to be medically assessed before a clinic will give initial approval for a surrogacy arrangement.
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3. Counselling: Once the parties have met the criteria for surrogacy, they can engage with a surrogacy counsellor and complete assessments and implications counselling.
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4. Legal Advice & Agreement: The parties need legal advice, with two separate lawyers. They all complete and sign a surrogacy agreement.
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5. Approval: Fertility clinics have their own process for approving a surrogacy arrangement. In Victoria, the Patient Review Panel must approve arrangements using the services of a clinic. For traditional surrogacy arrangements, there may not be a formal approval process if the parties are not using a clinic.
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6. Pregnancy attempts: If all the previous steps have been completed, the parties can proceed to pregnancy attempts, either with embryo transfers or at-home inseminations.

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. Have you thought about joining Surrogacy Australia’s Support Service? Read this first.

Surrogacy laws vary from state to state – you can find more information about Surrogacy laws.

Some intended parents may wish to explore international surrogacy options, which should be done with the benefit of independent legal advice.