Australia’s Legal System
Autor: Mikki • April 16, 2018 • 1,128 Words (5 Pages) • 642 Views
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As time progresses new technologies become part of everyday life. Often these technologies create new moral and legal issues not yet addressed under current law. This change in technology means that the law must reform in order to be effective in meeting the needs of family members. One such area in which new technology has created the need for law reform is artificial birth methods. Previous to these technologies sexual intercourse was the one and only means of conception. This meant that it was clear the father and the mother were defined in law as the woman who gave birth and her husband and partner. Artificial birth methods such as IVF with egg donor, sperm donor or egg and sperm donor create legal issues as to who is the legal parent of the child. This is also an issue in surrogate birth. For those women who carry another woman’s egg, they would claim that the child is legally there as they have carried it. For those women using a surrogate mother to carry their child, with their egg and their husband’s sperm, they would claim there rights as parent to the child as it has come from them and will bare their resemblance.
It can be seen where the moral and in this case legal issue arises. http://www.etonline.com/news/163882_sofia_vergara_talks_nick_loeb_frozen_embryo_battle/ which revolves around the ownership of embryos. Issues such as this are best addressed within the government legislature; both state and federal. The Family law Act defines that a child’s parents were the woman from which it was born and her husband or partner. The origin of the sperm or ova does not change this. The male’s permission for use of birth technology is assumed and therefore he may only challenge paternity in court. Finally the legislature acted once again to meet the need of family members in relation to changing technology. The Status of Children Act 1996 (NSW) extended the definition of parentage to include donated ova. It clarifies`123uiop[=- a number of issues in relation to IVF and parental rights.
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