Sunshine Coast firm Pippa Colman Family Law has launched a dedicated surrogacy law service.
The firm’s service provides advice throughout the surrogacy process, including initial advice for intended parents, independent advice for surrogates, preparation and review of surrogacy arrangements, and applications for parentage orders following birth.
The firm will work collaboratively with fertility clinics, counsellors, psychologists, medical practitioners and other professionals involved in surrogacy, with a focus on encouraging referral for legal advice early.
Director and QLS Accredited Family Law Specialist Sarah Quilliam said greater awareness was needed of importance of obtaining legal advice at the beginning of the surrogacy process.
“Surrogacy can be an incredibly exciting and deeply personal pathway to parenthood, but it is also a highly regulated legal process where timing matters,” Ms Quilliam said.
“In Queensland, there are important legal requirements that must be addressed before conception. Waiting until a pregnancy has commenced can mean some of those critical steps should already have taken place.”
The Australian Law Reform Commission is conducting a national review of fragmented surrogacy laws, barriers to domestic altruistic surrogacy and the legal recognition of families formed through surrogacy.
Under the Surrogacy Act 2010 (Qld), only altruistic surrogacy is permitted. Queensland Children’s Court figures show 20 applications for parentage orders were made in 2024-25, and 30 the year before.
“The current legal landscape can be complex, particularly because surrogacy laws differ between states and territories,” Ms Quilliam said.
”Whatever reforms may come nationally, Queenslanders considering surrogacy today still need to understand the legal framework that currently applies to them,” she said.
“Our role is to help people navigate that process with clarity and confidence, while recognising that behind every surrogacy arrangement are real people, relationships and an incredibly significant decision about creating a family.”
The move follows the firm’s launch of a Parenting Coordination service in July.
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