Government doesn't play God on surrogacy The LNP government has shelved plans to stop single people, same-sex couples and couples who have lived together for less than two years from having a child through surrogacy. Photo: Michelle Mossop "Government doesn't play God" said a client of mine, I'll call her Shauna, when I told her last year of the statement by Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie that the Newman government would change the Surrogacy Act so that same sex couples, singles and heterosexual de facto couples of less than 2 years would be banned from pursuing their dreams of becoming parents via surrogacy. Shauna's daughter Adele was pursuing the last resort option to become a parent via surrogacy to fulfil her lifelong dream of becoming a mum. Adele was separated. Through no fault of her own, Adele would never be able to be pregnant. Shauna was Adele's surrogate. Under the then proposal by Mr Bleijie, if Shauna and her husband Paul, and their daughter Adele had gone ahead with a surrogacy arrangement after the change came through, they would have been committing a criminal offence punishable by up to three years imprisonment. Luckily for them, Shauna, Paul and Adele had signed the surrogacy arrangement well before the proposed changes were announced. Indeed baby Sam was born at about the time the Attorney General made his announcement in June last year. Shauna was outraged that the government should step in and say who could and who could not be parents, and pick winners and losers - who was or was not allowed to be a parent. The reasoning behind the proposed ban was the idea that "every child deserved a mother and a father." An independent expert visited the family home of Shauna, Paul, Adele and Sam late last year. A social worker of long standing, she thoroughly recommended the making of parentage orders as being in the best interests of Sam. Compared to many painful neglect and abuse cases, this was a case of love, warmth, happiness and above all nurturing for baby Sam. The matter went to court. A Children's Court judge, after weighing all the evidence, concluded that making a parentage order would be for the wellbeing and in the best interests of baby Sam. Suddenly Shauna and Paul were no longer the legal parents of baby Sam but her mum Adele was. When I told Shauna today that it looked as though the government had shelved the plans, she said "Good. These are private, personal matters, they shouldn't involve the government. The changes should never have happened. This isn't a case of buying a car or paying tax. This is the most private thing. You can't tell people when to have kids. Stephen Page is a Brisbane surrogacy and family lawyer. He is also the convenor of Queenslanders for Equality.