A bill to allow altruistic surrogacy access for single men and male same-sex couples will remove the fundamental right of a child to know their biological parents and denies the right to have a mother figure in their lives, warns the Australian Christian Lobby.
“Contrary to claims by the Health Minister Roger Cook in his second reading speech, sociological and psychological research clearly shows that children brought up by their biological parents in a married relationship fare better in all measures,” commented Peter Abetz, ACL’s state director.
“Studies that claim there are no statistical differences in outcomes, are based on very small sample sizes, which guarantees that there will be no differences. The two largest studies by Dr Paul Scullins and Prof Mark Regnerus both clearly demonstrate that the Minister’s claim is false.”
“Surrogacy access for single men is set to create equality in the current legislation passed in 2008 which gives single females the right to access surrogacy arrangements, however, we are told that no single female has applied for surrogacy in this 10year period.”
“Therefore, rather than extend the right to single men, the right to surrogacy for single people should be removed altogether,” said Mr Abetz.
The Human Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Legislation Amendment Bill is set to be debated in parliament on Tuesday 18 September.
