Recognising all of our families, equally

Accordingly, we suggest reforms to Division 2.5 of the Parentage Act 2004 (ACT) to ensure that the Supreme Court has a discretion to make a parentage order when it is in the best interests of the child and it would be appropriate to do so (having regard to the circumstances of the birth parents and the intended parent(s), and the surrogacy arrangement), notwithstanding that one or more of the tech. [...] OPTION 2: A PRE-BIRTH INTERIM PARENTAGE ORDER The birth of a child can be a joyous yet stressful time and intended parents and surrogates may prefer the certainty of having a parentage order in place prior to birth of the child which comes into effect upon the birth of the child should the surrogate and their partner (if any) relinquish the child. [...] • If there is a dispute, the court should have the power to: ▪ make a parentage order if the statutory conditions are met (as discussed in Option 1); ▪ revoke the interim parentage order and reinstate the rights of the surrogate and their partner (if any); ▪ if the child is born in the ACT, order the amendment of details on the births register (and reissuing of birth certificate with corrected det. [...] To ensure that this scheme achieves the same legal effect under federal law as a parentage order under section 26 of the Parentage Act 2004 (ACT), the ACT should either introduce the scheme under section 26 or ask the Commonwealth to amend reg 12CAA of the Family Law Regulations 1984 (Cth) to prescribe the new sections of the Parentage Act 2004 (Cth) for the purposes of s 60HB of the Family Law Ac. [...] The provisions of the scheme should include that: • With the registration of the birth of a new child and up to 6 months from birth, a person may also apply to the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registrar to register as an additional parent of the child if: ▪ all persons who would otherwise be recognised as a parent to the child under common law or the Parentage Act 2004 (ACT) consent to the registr.