Surrogacy & Psychology

In all surrogacy arrangements, regardless of which state you are in, you will need to engage a suitably qualified psychologist to provide you with specific counselling prior to formalising a surrogacy arrangement and, in most states, after the birth of a baby through surrogacy.

In Victoria, you complete your pre surrogacy counselling through your IVF clinic but you will also need an assessment by an independent psychologist. In most other states, you ordinarily need to engage your own psychologist, and, in some cases, you need a separate psychologist for your pre and post surrogacy counselling.

Why all the counselling you ask? Firstly, it’s a legal requirement. If you do not engage in the required counselling, you may not be successful in having legal parentage of your baby transferred to you. Secondly, surrogacy is a difficult process emotionally for everyone involved.

Having great psychological support is a no-brainer and will assist greatly throughout the process. We can provide our clients with the details of our recommended fertility/perinatal/surrogacy psychologists.

Nicole Russell is a specialist surrogacy and fertility lawyer advising heterosexual and LGBTIQ+ individuals and couples to achieve their dreams of becoming parents. Nicole provides specialist legal advice on all aspects of Australian and international surrogacy arrangements and fertility legal issues including the use and transport of donor gametes. Nicole is based in Melbourne and acts for clients in all Australian states and territories. Nicole is an IVF warrior and a mum through surrogacy in Australia.