International surrogacy is 'new frontline in human trafficking', says judge John Pascoe; Indian case sparks renewed calls for inquiry
There are renewed calls for an inquiry into international commercial surrogacy laws, following the ABC's revelations about another Australian couple having surrogate twins overseas and leaving one baby behind.
The latest case involves twins born to a surrogate mother in India.
The Australian family only wanted to take home one of the babies, with the selection allegedly being made because of the child's gender.
The Indian case happened about two years ago and echoes the recent case of baby Gammy, who was born in Thailand to a surrogate mother and whose Australian parents only brought back his twin sister.
Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court John Pascoe has been campaigning for an inquiry into international commercial surrogacy.
"I find it almost unbelievable that Australians would be choosing a child on the basis of sex," he told the ABC.
"It's particularly tragic, when you think there are wonderful people out there who would love to have a child of any sex, that someone would choose to leave a baby behind.
"I think international commercial surrogacy is the new frontline in human trafficking. We have enough anecdotal evidence to believe that people are commissioning children willy-nilly without any proper protections for the children or the surrogate mothers."
Attorney-General George Brandis said he listened with respect to Judge Pascoe's observation at a conference on Wednesday, and noted his call for a Commonwealth inquiry.
A Family Law Council report is also calling on Senator Brandis to ask for a Law Reform Commission inquiry into international surrogacy.
Senator Brandis says the report is a valuable contribution to this complex area, and the Government is considering the recommendations.
But Labor's shadow parliamentary secretary Graham Perrett urged Senator Brandis to call an inquiry.
"The reality is we've had 800 babies come into Australia in the last five years. This is something that is happening right now," Mr Perret said.
"My understanding is those numbers are ramping up. There's certainly been a suggestion put to me that in some ways this can almost be child trafficking.
"Get the empirical data. Work out what would be best practice and what would be best for children, for surrogate mothers, for the commissioning parents, and what's in the national interests rather than these ad hoc arrangements that vary from state to territory to the Commonwealth."
He said there were many issues to examine, including the consent of the surrogate mothers.
"If there is an incredible economic imbalance between the commissioning parents and a poor mother who is being paid expenses to have a child, is that true consent? Is that consent in a legal nature? Because we are talking about a consent contractual arrangement here."
Chief Justice of the Family Court Diana Bryant said consular officials involved in the Indian case told her there was pressure from Australia to provide a visa to allow the couple to come home with only one baby.
She stressed the consular staff were not at fault, saying they had to operate in a legal vacuum where the laws are far from straightforward or clear.
Other sources have confirmed to the ABC there was concern a senior federal politician had been advocating on behalf of the Australian parents.
Bob Carr, who was Labor's foreign minister from March 2012 until September 2013, said he did not recall the case.
"I don't recall surrogacy coming up in terms of our relationship between the bilateral relationship between Australia and India and I did not contact the Australian High Commission about a case," the former foreign minister said.
Kevin Rudd was foreign minister before Mr Carr. His spokeswoman said: "This case is not familiar to representatives of Mr Rudd's office from the time".
