Often emphasised in discussions about children’s best interests is the idea that certain ways of having and raising children are “natural”. For example, this word appears frequently in reference to how children are conceived (with heterosexual intercourse often referred to as “natural reproduction”). It also appears in reference to how children are raised (e.g. it is typically seen as “natural” for a child to have a mother and a father).
Views on what is “natural” have had a predictable airing in public debate over commercial surrogacy as a result of two recent cases of babies being abandoned by intended parents first in Thailand and now in India. Legislating for commercial surrogacy in Australia would help avoid this type of outcome. One barrier to the implementation of such legislation, however, is the view that commercial surrogacy is “unnatural”.
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