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Cambodia's Surrogacy Crackdown
episode • Dateline • News And Current Affairs • 27m
episode • Dateline • News And Current Affairs • 27m
Perth hair stylist Jay Lazarus always dreamed of becoming a dad.
"Three days before my 21st birthday, my mum was like: 'So when am I going to be a grandmother?' And I was like, 'It's a little bit harder for me, mum — but soon, hopefully one day.'"
Landmark changes to Western Australia's reproductive laws mean that dream may now finally become a reality.
Jay has four godsons and is known as Uncle Jay to many of his friends' children.
"A lot of my clients' kids have grown up around me," he said.
"They all know mummy's hairdresser is Uncle Jay."
But as a gay couple, Jay and his husband Jeremy's options for parenthood were extremely limited because WA’s laws barred couples like them from accessing surrogacy.
They tried to explore pathways that might lead them to a surrogate, including using an international agency, but found themselves up against high costs and opaque processes.
After one consultation, Jay says the experience left him devastated.
"I ended up having four or five sleepless nights after the consult, crying. It became all about money. There was no emotional side of it at all. It was all 'have you got the money to do this, otherwise you're wasting our time'."
"It was completely transactional and it was the most awful experience."
Those barriers pushed him further into advocacy around surrogacy laws in Western Australia.
"I wanted to do it for people to know what the law was and how awful and discriminative it was towards us," he said, "but also hopefully opening a door for us to potentially meet a surrogate."
The state of surrogacy in Australia
Until late 2025, WA's laws barred gay couples from accessing altruistic surrogacy.
While commercial surrogacy — where the surrogate gets paid — is banned across Australia, altruistic arrangements allow for a woman to carry a baby for someone without being financially rewarded. Under this model, a surrogate can be compensated for reasonable medical expenses, but cannot make a profit.
WA previously restricted altruistic surrogacy to married heterosexual couples who could prove medical infertility. This is defined as biological conditions that mean someone cannot conceive naturally. The state's laws were the most restrictive in Australia.
'Social infertility', on the other hand, refers to the social circumstances that present barriers to a couple for having children, for example being part of a same-sex couple.
WA's recent reforms have now removed the requirement for people to prove medical infertility. This means social infertility is now recognised as a legitimate reason to access Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and surrogacy.
With record numbers of Australians seeking out surrogacy options, the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) is currently reviewing surrogacy laws. Surrogacy in Australia is primarily legislated and regulated at the state level, leading to what many have described as a "patchwork" of laws that can make complex processes even more challenging.
In an attempt to standardise the industry with best practice ethical guidelines, the ALRC has collected the opinions of professionals, community members and industry providers to be delivered to the government in a report in July 2026.
As part of its recommendations, surrogates across the country may soon be compensated up to $2,000 a month for the physical toll of pregnancy.
With 75 per cent of babies born via surrogacy born overseas, the ALRC hopes it will incentivise local surrogates and reduce barriers for intended parents who would otherwise have to look abroad.
For some parents, engaging in international surrogacy can be stressful, and requires dealing with unfamiliar systems, processes and governments.
Anthony and Joseph's international surrogacy journey
When Anthony Fisk and Joseph Huang started their journey to become parents more than a decade ago, they were just one of many gay couples in Western Australia forced to look overseas to have children.
For the couple, pursuing surrogacy abroad became complex and dangerous amid government crackdowns on the practice in Thailand and Cambodia.
Their first daughter was born to a surrogate in Thailand, but during her pregnancy, the country changed its laws and banned surrogacy for foreigners in the wake of the Baby Gammy scandal.
For their second pregnancy, they looked to Cambodia. But while their surrogate was pregnant with twins, Cambodia also cracked down on surrogacy, meaning the couple had to smuggle her out of the country to give birth.
"There were a lot of sleepless nights thinking about it and ensuring that this was the right thing," Anthony told Dateline in 2024.
It was a time fraught with legal risk, emotional and financial strain — all for the dream of growing a family that they couldn't build back home.
"There weren't many other options for us," he said. "I would have wanted it to be different."
But now, after years of agitation, advocacy and debate, the laws around altruistic surrogacy in WA have changed.
How WA's legal reform came into effect
The Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Act was passed in Western Australian parliament on 3 December.
The new legislation aims to protect the best interests of surrogacy-born children, including enabling donor-conceived children to have access to information about their genetic and social heritage.
WA Premier Roger Cook said these changes would "bring WA into line" with the rest of Australia".
When these changes are implemented in approximately mid 2027, WA's laws will align with other jurisdictions, including Victoria, South Australia, NSW, the ACT and Queensland.
Same-sex couples will now be able to pursue surrogacy at home under clearer safeguards and oversight.
The 'help Jay and Jeremy have a baby' campaign
Jay Lazarus unexpectedly became central to the campaign to overhaul WA's restrictive surrogacy laws. He mobilised support through his extensive client list, built up over decades as a hair stylist.
"I sent an email out to my database and the subject was 'Help Jay and Jeremy have a baby'," he says.
"I sent this to 6,000 people. I smashed it on my social media and just got as many people as possible to fill out this form."
The email automatically forwarded to every recipient's local MP, urging them to support the reforms. What began as a personal plea turned into a grassroots lobbying effort that helped turn the tide on WA's laws.
"The traction that we got from it… I think I've just gotten more and more involved, helping out as much as I can on that side — the awareness, getting as many people around Western Australia knowing about us."
When the legislation finally passed, Jay watched years of community effort crystallise into change.
"We've changed it. We've crushed it. We've nailed it. It's happened. And this is going to be the best thing for Western Australia."
He's clear about why it mattered.
"I think a lot of it did come down to discrimination ... So having that completely lifted is just incredible.
"It needed to change."
For Jay and Jeremy, the reform isn't only a legal victory, it's a personal one. The couple are now getting to know a potential surrogate.
"She met our family, we met her kids. We're just getting to know each other. Hopefully in the next few months we'll start our journey."
"It changes a lot of things for a lot of people."
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