Gay dads welcome US eggs deal

Gay dads welcome US eggs deal

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A ‘limiting factor’ for gay Victorian couples wanting to start a family here in Australia, instead of overseas, will soon disappear following an international deal for Monash IVF.

Monash IVF has signed an agreement allowing Australians undergoing IVF to import eggs from American women at a cost of $19,000, Fairfax Media reports. For gay dads-to-be, findng a suitable egg donor can be the most difficult part of starting a family through Victoria’s altruistic surrogacy laws. Queensland has had access to the deal since January although the state government announced last year it would ban same-sex couples from using altruistic surrogacy this year.

Monansh IVF is believed to be the first in Australia to negotiate an agreement for eggs that meet local laws despite many clinics already having international agreements for sperm donations.

Gay Dads Australia spokesman Rodney Chiang-Cruise told the Star Observer it was a wonderful development for gay dads at face value.

“One of the big problems for Victorian men who are wanting to use altruistic surrogacy is once they’ve found a surrogate they are required to do gestational surrogacy so they need an egg donor and that’s often the limiting factor,” he said.

“They can find a surrogate who is often a family friend or family member but actually accessing donor eggs is very difficult because they are in such limited supply.

“This is a very welcome development and it will mean the opportunity for gay men to utilise altruistic surrogacy laws in Victoria is going to increase.”

He said the new imported eggs were more expensive than paying for eggs while overseas but added people would save an “enormous amount” on overseas travel and other costs.

“People would be more than happy to pay for that service because it gives them an option to access eggs where they otherwise wouldn’t have because it’s been difficult if not impossible to import donor gametes,” he said.

Donors will need to supply identifying information to donor-conceived children, which Crusie-Chiang also welcomed.

“The bottom line is gay men are very happy to know who the donor is,” he said.

He said gay men who used some overseas agencies would have to accept anonymous donors which wasn’t ideal.

“Gay men do want to know who the biological links are for their children and they want to share that with their children.”

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