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Lesbians and single women in Victoria have won the right to access fertility treatments following a conscience vote in the state’s Upper House last week. The Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) Bill, which also gives same-sex partners and parents of surrogate children legal parenting rights for the first time, passed by just two votes, 20 votes to 18.
Labor MP Adem Somyurek voted against the bill, while the Liberals’ Bruce Atkinson voted in favour. The bill was sent back to the Lower House, which ratified the Upper House amendments. The changes mean that a woman who uses IVF to become a surrogate mother cannot do so for her first child, nor can she use her own eggs; there will be increased counselling; and a child will have "donor conceived'' marked next to its name on the birth register, but not on its birth certificate. An amendment by Greens MP Sue Pennicuik to remove a mandatory requirement that people seeking fertility treatment such as IVF must pass a police check was defeated. The checks are designed to ensure that people seeking fertility treatment are "fit to parent", having no history of violence or sexual assault. The passage of the bill was greeted with cheers and applause from dozens of women observing the debate from the public gallery. Attorney-General Rob Hulls, who introduced the bill, said it was long overdue. "It modernises our laws and it ends discrimination against people who haven't been able to get access to ART [assisted reproductive technology],'' Hulls said. Activists have applauded Hulls for his dedication to the historic bill. Felicity Marlowe, campaign coordinator for Victorian advocacy group Love Makes a Family, was present for the debate and the final vote. “We all filed into Queens Hall in Parliament and burst into tears,” Marlowe told MCV. “The Attorney-General came in and there were kids running around in their pajamas, he said, ‘This is fantastic, this is what it’s all about’. “It was an amazing thing to have been witness to, it was a relief that common sense had prevailed and that enough parliamentarians realised that these laws are important.” Marlowe, who has been advocating for the changes to state law for the past five years, said two important votes were gained in the last two week. “The first was Robert Smith, the President of the Legislative Council, who said in his speech that two things [had influenced his decision]: one was his friendship with Stephen Conroy, the federal senator who used surrogacy [to conceive his daughter], and the second was meeting us on the first day that the debate started when we had all our prams and children at parliament. “The second [vote] was Bruce Atkinson, who was the only Liberal that voted for the bill. We had spent a lot of time going to see him and sent him letters and family photos, just like we had everybody else. But there was obviously something in him that inspired him and made him realise that this is an important law.” Marlowe says the focus is now on the implementation of the bill. “We’ll look at what training needs some organisations like Births Deaths and Marriages will need now that we’re going to have more rainbow families and same-sex couples accessing these services.”
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