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Sexuality Officer
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Date Posted: Sunday, May 16, 11:39:32pm
Assisted Reproductive Technology & Adoption: Should the Current Eligibility Criteria in Victoria Be Changed?
A Consultation Paper Produced by the Victorian Law Reform Commission
PLEASE POST YOUR IDEAS FOR THIS SUBMISSION ON THIS MESSAGE BOARD:
This consultation paper raises many questions regarding, among other things, the right of gay and lesbian couples to adopt children, the right of gay men to be sperm donors, and the right of lesbian couples (or single lesbians) to access assisted reproductive technologies.
I am keen for the Sexuality Law Reform Committee to produce a submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission in response to this consultation paper. The paper can be accessed online at http://www.lawreform.vic.gov.au, under the Current Projects link. It is also available in hard copy from the closed collection of the LRC (KL 176 V32 VICT).
It would be great if as many people as possible could read the paper and develop some responses to the questions below, as well as any other questions that you deem to be relevant. Obviously, there will be differences in opinion among members of the committee, and this will be reflected in our submission.
The submission is due on 30 June 2004, which means that we don’t have a great deal of time. Before this date, I will send you all a copy of what I believe reflects the views of the members of this committee. We probably won’t be able to have another meeting before this date, so if anyone wishes to alter or add anything to the submission, email me, and I will repost the submission until no one objects.
Below are some questions raised by the commission that are relevant to our committee.
QUESTIONS
9. How appropriate is the current regime for balancing the desire of people to donate gametes with the need for the safest possible provision of donated gametes to recipients?
* Is it still necessary to screen out on the basis of certain high-risk activities, and if so, what are those activities? Are the questions currently asked about sexual activity capable of determining the risk that a person poses in the transmission of infectious diseases such as HIV? If not, what are the appropriate questions to ask? Does the current system unnecessarily exclude sectors of the population, such as gay men, through asking general questions about sexual activity rather than specific questions about particular sexual behaviour that involves risk of HIV infection?
* Is screening for HIV through seme and blood testing guaranteed to eliminate risk of transmission to a recipient or child?
34. Should the law recognise the birth mother’s female partner as the parent of the child?
35. If so, in which circumstances should the law treat the birth mother’s female partner as the parent of the child? Should it be necessary to show that the partner
* adopted the child;
* consented to the birth mother undergoing the procedure;
* was living with the birth mother on a genuine domestic basis at the time the child was born; or
* was registered as a parent in the Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages?
36. Are there any other legal means of recognising a relationship between the child and the birth mother’s female partner?
37. Should the Status of Children Act 1974 explicitly provide that a child born as the result of a semen donation to a single woman or a woman in a lesbian relationship is not the child of the semen donor? (See also questions 38 and 39.)
41. Should same-sex couples be permitted to adopt children? Should this apply in all circumstances in which heterosexual couples can adopt—that is, both known child and placement adoptions?
42. Should a donor be able to adopt a child jointly with a single mother or with a lesbian couple?
43. Should a donor and his single partner be able to adopt a child jointly with a single mother or with a lesbian couple?
52. Should single people, women in lesbian relationships, or men in same-sex relationships be able to adopt a child who has been born under a surrogacy arrangement? (See also question 53.)
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