FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS ACT 1975 - SECT 10C
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS ACT 1975 - SECT 10C
10C—Rules relating to parentage
(1) A woman who gives
birth to a child is, for the purposes of the law of the State, the mother of
the child (whether the child was conceived by the fertilisation of an ovum
taken from that woman or another woman).
(2) If—
(a) a
woman becomes pregnant in consequence of a fertilisation procedure; and
(b) the
ovum used for the purposes of the procedure was taken from another woman,
then, for the purposes of the law of the State, the woman from whom the ovum
was taken will be taken not to be the mother of any child born as a result of
the pregnancy.
(3) If a woman who is
legally married or in a qualifying relationship undergoes, with the consent of
her spouse or partner (as the case requires), a fertilisation procedure in
consequence of which she becomes pregnant, then, for the purposes of the law
of the State, the spouse or partner—
(a) will
be conclusively presumed to have caused the pregnancy; and
(b) will
be taken to be—
(i)
in the case of a male spouse or partner—the father;
or
(ii)
in any other case—a co-parent,
of any child born as a result of the pregnancy.
(a) a
woman becomes pregnant in consequence of a fertilisation procedure; and
(b) a
man (not being the woman's spouse or, if she is in a qualifying relationship,
her partner) produced sperm used for the purposes of the procedure,
then, for the purposes of the law of the State, the man—
(c) will
be conclusively presumed not to have caused the pregnancy; and
(d) will
be taken not to be the father of any child born as a result of the pregnancy.
(5) If a woman becomes
pregnant in consequence of a fertilisation procedure using the semen of a
man—
(a) who
has died; and
(b) who,
immediately before his death, was the woman's spouse, or was living with the
woman in a qualifying relationship; and
(c) who
had consented to the use of the semen for the purposes of the
fertilisation procedure,
the man—
(d) will
be conclusively presumed to have caused the pregnancy; and
(e) will
be taken to be the father of any child born as a result of the pregnancy.
(6) For the purposes
of this section, a woman's spouse, or partner with whom she is in a
qualifying relationship, will, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be
presumed to have consented to the woman undergoing a fertilisation procedure.
(7) This section
applies in relation to a child regardless of when the child was born.
(8) However, nothing
in this section prevents a person becoming the mother, father or co-parent of
a child in accordance with another provision of this Act, or any other Act or
law.
Example—
An order may be made by the Court under Part 2B Division 3 of this Act.