All Australian states and territories permit altruistic surrogacy – that is a surrogacy arrangement where the surrogate has their expenses covered with no other payment provided or personal profit made. Commercial surrogacy – where the surrogate receives more than their reasonable expenses – is illegal. This is because commercial surrogacy can lead to risks of exploitation of surrogates, babies and intended parents.
Recognition as the legal parents of a child born through altruistic surrogacy requires the intended parents to follow the rules and processes described in the laws of the state or territory that they live in.
If Australians engage in commercial surrogacy, they are usually not recognised as legal parents in Australia and the surrogate remains the legal parent of the child. In some jurisdictions, in exceptional or limited circumstances, a judge may have discretion to order the transfer of legal parentage from a surrogate to the commissioning parents.