Re HCH

The case before the Family Court was an application by a married couple seeking a parentage order under the Surrogacy Act 2010 in relation to a child born as a result of a surrogacy arrangement. The applicants, who had entered into the surrogacy agreement after the commencement of the Act, sought to establish their legal parentage of the child. The respondent to the application was the surrogate mother.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the applicants could be granted a parentage order under the Act, given that they had satisfied the preconditions stipulated by the legislation and the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW). A further issue arose concerning the typographical error in the summons, which referenced the State of Victoria instead of New South Wales, the jurisdiction in which the application was being heard. The court had to determine whether this error necessitated the filing and service of an amended summons before proceeding with the application.

The court held that the applicants had indeed satisfied the preconditions for making a parentage order, as outlined in the Surrogacy Act and UCPR Part 56A. Given the typographical error in the summons, the court exercised its discretion under r 6.11 of the UCPR to make an order dispensing with the need for the applicants to file and serve an amended summons. Consequently, the court was satisfied that it had the necessary jurisdiction to proceed with and grant the parentage order sought by the applicants.

The final orders made by the court were that the applicants' names be recorded as the parents of the child on the child's birth certificate, and that the respondents, being the surrogate mother and the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, be directed to take all necessary steps to effectuate these changes. The court also ordered that the applicants' legal costs of the application be paid by the respondents.