Australian Family and Fertility Law

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 IVF patient care — why personal connection with patients changes the fertility journey, according to an embryologist on the front line.

Stephen Page, fertility lawyer and accredited family law specialist at Page Provan, talks with an embryologist from City Fertility (Miranda, Sydney), recorded live at the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand conference.

In this video:

• Why personal contact with patients matters so much in IVF and egg donation care
• The "in the door, out the door" feeling patients can get at clinics without that connection
• What surrogacy clients have told her about the contrast between older Australian clinics and US clinics — from feeling "like cattle" to being treated as people
• Why she still gets emotional every time, even after 30 years in the job
• A behind-the-scenes look at the embryologist's role in the fertility treatment journey

📞 Need advice? Contact Page Provan Family & Fertility Lawyers.
 🌐 https://pageprovan.com.au

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Birthright citizenship changes could upend US surrogacy — new executive orders target children born to foreign intended parents via surrogacy.

Stephen Page, multi-award winning surrogacy lawyer and accredited family law specialist at Page Provan explains.

In this video:

• Trump's two new executive orders — "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship" and "Ending Birth Tourism"
• How the 14th Amendment and this year's 6-3 Supreme Court ruling connect to the issue
• Why commercial surrogacy arrangements in the US are specifically targeted
• What Australian intended parents already in the US need to know about bringing their child home
• Why Page Provan expects around 18 months of litigation before there's a clear outcome

📞 Need advice? Contact Page Provan Family & Fertility Lawyers.
🌐 https://pageprovan.com.au

#birthrightcitizenship #ussurrogacy #surrogacylaw #australia #pageprovan

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Surrogates and intended parents don't automatically receive the same parental leave entitlements — and where you're employed, and where the surrogacy takes place, can significantly affect what you're entitled to. In this episode of the Australian Family and Fertility Law Podcast, Multi-Award Winning Surrogacy & Fertility Lawyer Stephen Page explains why parental leave for surrogacy is far more complicated than most people expect.

Stephen outlines the Commonwealth's base parental leave scheme, then explains why most people's actual entitlements come down to their specific award or enterprise agreement rather than the Commonwealth minimum. He compares how Queensland and New South Wales public service awards treat surrogacy leave very differently, and explains why overseas surrogacy arrangements can create serious complications for intended parents in New South Wales trying to access leave.

In This Episode:

• What parental leave a surrogate is entitled to under Commonwealth law
• Whether intended parents can also access parental leave
• Why your actual leave entitlement usually depends on your award or EBA, not just the Commonwealth minimum
• How the Queensland Public Service Award treats surrogacy leave differently to New South Wales
• Why New South Wales Public Service employees generally need a Supreme Court parentage order to access surrogacy leave
• Why overseas altruistic surrogacy arrangements can make it difficult to get that court order in New South Wales
• Why checking your leave entitlements before starting a surrogacy journey can prevent major problems later

If you're planning a surrogacy journey and want to understand your parental leave entitlements before you start, get tailored advice:
 https://pageprovan.com.au/

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Under Australian family law, a parent who wants to relocate with their children — whether interstate or overseas — generally needs the other parent's consent, or risks having to fight the move through court. In this episode of the Australian Family and Fertility Law Podcast, Bruce Provan, Managing Director of Page Provan Family and Fertility Lawyers, breaks down how relocation cases actually work and what parents need to know before making a move.

Bruce explains that relocation cases apply when a parent wants to move a considerable distance with their children — not simply across suburbs — and that the court's decision always comes down to the best interests of the child. He covers what happens if consent isn't given, what a court can order if a parent relocates without agreement, and why overseas moves involve an extra layer of complexity through the Hague Convention.

In This Episode:

• What counts as a "relocation case" under Australian family law
• Whether a parent needs the other parent's consent before relocating with children
• What can happen if you relocate without the other parent's agreement
• Why courts don't always require a relocated parent to return
• How the Hague Convention affects relocation to overseas countries
• Why some Hague Convention countries don't reliably comply with it
• When exceptions — such as safety concerns from domestic violence — may change the usual approach

If you're considering relocating with your children, interstate or overseas, get tailored legal advice before you make any decisions:
 https://pageprovan.com.au/

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Australian parents having children through overseas surrogacy are now facing significantly more paperwork when applying for their child's Australian citizenship — and a birth certificate alone is no longer enough for the Department of Home Affairs. In this episode of the Australian Family and Fertility Law Podcast, Multi-Award Winning Surrogacy & Fertility Lawyer Stephen Page shares a trend he's observed over the past year, echoed by colleagues overseas, of steadily increasing documentation demands.

Stephen explains that the Department is now frequently requesting a "certificate of genetic affinity" — a doctor's letter confirming whose sperm and egg created the embryo, the date it was transferred into the surrogate, and the child's expected due date. He walks through a real case where an Australian couple had comprehensive records from their fertility clinic, the courier company that exported their embryos overseas, and the receiving clinic — yet the application still faced pushback, because a letter from the overseas doctor was missing his signature.

In This Episode:

• What a "certificate of genetic affinity" is and why the Department of Home Affairs is now asking for it
• Why a birth certificate is no longer treated as sufficient evidence for citizenship by descent applications
• What the law actually requires: birth overseas on or after 26 January 1949, an Australian citizen parent, and established identity
• A real case where extensive clinic, courier, and embryo-export records still weren't accepted
• Why this growing documentation trend matters for anyone considering surrogacy overseas
• Why being prepared with the right paperwork in advance can prevent delays

If you're planning to have a child through overseas surrogacy, understanding these citizenship and paperwork requirements early can save significant delay and stress. Speak with our team before you begin your surrogacy journey:
 https://pageprovan.com.au/

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Canada surrogacy — how one family crossed closed borders during COVID to bring their daughter home, and how nutrition can shape fertility outcomes.

Stephen Page, Multi-award winning surrogacy lawyer and accredited family law specialist at Page Provan, reconnects at the Growing Families Conference in Sydney with Valeria Viademonte of Via Fertility, a former client and now a fertility dietitian.

In this episode:

• How Valeria and other intended parents crossed the closed Canadian border in 2020 with the help of a collective legal effort led by Canadian surrogacy lawyers
• Why Australian citizenship applications for children born overseas were processed in days rather than weeks during the pandemic
• How Valeria's own surrogacy journey led her to specialise as a fertility dietitian
• How nutrition can influence egg quality, sperm quality and embryo implantation
• Why the "first thousand days" — from preconception to age two — matters for long-term health through epigenetics

📞 Need advice? Contact Page Provan Family & Fertility Lawyers.
 🌐 https://pageprovan.com.au

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International egg donation — how altruistic donor eggs from Ukraine and Georgia reach Australian intended parents legally and ethically.

Stephen Page, Fertility lawyer and accredited family law specialist at Page Provan, talks to Melissa Quinn, National Manager at Manor Baby, an international egg donor bank sourcing donors from Georgia and Ukraine.

In this episode:

• How Australia's altruistic donation laws apply to overseas egg donors, and why they aren't being paid or exploited
• The extra layers of counselling international donors go through, on top of Australia's ANZICA requirements
• How family limits and future donor-conceived child rights apply even when donors are based overseas
• How intended parents connect with an international egg donor bank through their IVF clinic or directly
• Why Australia's eight different state and territory IVF regulatory systems create unnecessary complexity, and the case for one national law

📞 Need advice? Contact Page Provan Family & Fertility Lawyers.
 🌐 https://pageprovan.com.au

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Queensland adoption crisis — no child has been adopted from state care since 2019, despite a decade of legislative promises.

Stephen Page, Multi-award winning surrogacy lawyer and accredited family law specialist at Page Provan, breaks down the findings of the Child Safety Inquiry by Paul Anastasio Casey, commissioned by the Queensland Government.

In this episode:

• Why the Child Safety Inquiry found adoption has become "institutionally invisible" in Queensland
• How adoption differs from guardianship orders and Family Law Act parenting orders in giving children lifelong legal permanency
• Why fewer than 10% of children in long-term care receive the legal reviews they're entitled to
• How historical forced adoption practices have wrongly discouraged contemporary adoption, despite very different legal safeguards today
• What the inquiry recommends to restore adoption as a genuine option for children who can't go home

📞 Need advice? Contact Page Provan Family & Fertility Lawyers.
 🌐 https://pageprovan.com.au

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Mexico surrogacy — how one agency supports intended parents and surrogates across the Americas.

Stephen Page, Multi-award winning surrogacy lawyer and accredited family law specialist at Page Provan, talks to Mario Delgadillo from Babies Come True International, a surrogacy agency operating across Mexico, the US, Canada, Colombia and Argentina, at the Growing Families Conference in Sydney.

In this episode:

• How Babies Come True supports intended parents from around the world through their surrogacy journey in Mexico and across the Americas
• Why some intended parents return for a second or third surrogacy journey using frozen embryos
• How surrogates are supported with 24/7 psychological and medical care throughout the process
• How Mexico's Supreme Court ruling protects surrogates through fair agreements, independent legal advice and bodily autonomy
• Practical advice for intended parents starting their surrogacy journey, including why there's no single "best" agency or clinic

📞 Need advice? Contact Page Provan Family & Fertility Lawyers.
 🌐 https://pageprovan.com.au

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 Queensland Health family limits — why lesbian couples using donor sperm are being counted as two separate families, not one.

Stephen Page, Fertility lawyer and accredited family law specialist at Page Provan, breaks down a growing controversy in Queensland over how donor sperm family limits are applied to lesbian couples.

In this episode:

• Why Queensland Health is treating married and de facto lesbian couples as separate "families" under donor sperm limits
• How this compares to New South Wales, where a 5-family cap has driven donor sperm costs from $2,000 to $60,000
• What the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2024 (Qld) s25 actually says about who counts as a "family"
• Why the Family Law Act and Status of Children Act already recognise both partners as legal parents
• What affected couples can do, and why this needs to be fixed by the Queensland Health Minister

📞 Need advice? Contact Page Provan Family & Fertility Lawyers.
 🌐 https://pageprovan.com.au

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