There are calls for Tasmania's surrogacy laws to remove an "unfair" requirement that each party to a surrogacy agreement be a Tasmanian resident.
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00:00This looks like Winston's nose.
00:04It does. Who's this one? Is it like you? Yeah.
00:08Maria Arnold has an extra special bond with her grandson Winston.
00:12You feel it hub? Yeah.
00:16The grandmother carried and birthed Winston three years ago.
00:20She's now doing the same for his baby sister. You know you want to trust
00:24the surrogate that's carrying your baby with everything and
00:28who do you trust more? Ms Arnold's daughter Megan
00:32has a rare medical condition preventing her from carrying her
00:36own baby. I've got MRKH which just means I was born without my
00:40uterus. So it's pretty much been my only option.
00:44After creating embryos Ms White and her husband Clade
00:48tried surrogacy in Canada. It was unsuccessful. They then
00:52looked at having Ms Arnold's uterus transplanted.
00:56said that the operation would be
00:58simple for me but
01:00reasonably extensive for mum to make sure
01:02they remove the uterus with all the vessels
01:04intact.
01:06And that's kind of when mum was like well maybe
01:08it'd just be easier if I carried.
01:10I thought well why
01:12couldn't I? Yeah so
01:14I did and it was good.
01:16The Whites have now welcomed
01:18daughter Phoebe or Princess
01:20Phoebe as Winston calls her
01:22thanks to surrogate Gran.
01:24But the family wants others to experience
01:26the same joy.
01:28Tasmania is the only state where intended
01:30parents need to live in the same
01:32state as their surrogate.
01:34There's a growing push for the law to be
01:36changed and uniform with the rest of the
01:38country. But the state government
01:40isn't actively considering it.
01:42Australian laws also prevent those using surrogacy
01:46from receiving any Medicare
01:48rebates for IVF procedures
01:50even if, like in Megan's
01:52case, it's the only option
01:54to have children.
01:56I don't think it's fair at all.
01:58It's what Medicare rebates are there for
02:00to support people that
02:02medically need the help.
02:04Any Australian person with a Medicare
02:06card should be able to access
02:08fertility treatment based on their needs.
02:10The federal government says
02:12the regulation of IVF, including
02:14rebates, is on the agenda
02:16for the next Health Minister's meeting
02:18in mid-June. And while the Whites'
02:20family is now complete,
02:22they hope one day it will be an easier
02:24ride for others on the surrogacy
02:26journey.