The Australian Christian Lobby has raised the question, “Do mothers matter?”, in light of the decision in Victoria to allow single men access to surrogacy.
Paving the way in Victoria for single men to be approved for surrogacy, Forty-four year old Shaun Resnik has pursued his dream of having a child alone, despite not having met ‘Mr Right’.
Melbourne surrogacy lawyer, Sarah Jefford, has attributed the passing of marriage equality laws in Australia as one reason for the increase in single men considering surrogacy.
Australian Christian Lobby’s National Director for Politics, Wendy Francis, raised concerns for the surrogate child, saying, “I believe it is potentially a human rights violation to intentionally deny a child the right to their mother in order to satisfy an adult’s desires.
“For the first time in history, we are purposefully creating a ‘motherless’ group of children. The deep longing that many experience to be a parent is very real and understandable. But whilst many adults have strong emotional desires to have children, there is no “right” to a child.
“The child who is born from a surrogacy arrangement such as this has never consented to being removed from their birth mother.”
The Australian Christian Lobby urged State governments to adopt a “best practice for children” approach in all policy decisions.
