SIGLEY & SIGLEY

This matter concerned an application by the applicants, who are the biological parents of two children, to register orders made by a court in the United States of America. The children's birth had been facilitated by a surrogacy agreement with a gestational carrier. The applicants sought to have these overseas orders registered in Australia.

The court was required to determine whether the orders made by the US court constituted an "overseas child order" for the purposes of the *Family Law Act* 1975 (Cth). Further, the court had to consider whether it should exercise its discretion to register these orders, and whether the applicants were "proceeding to" Australia in a manner relevant to the registration provisions. The court also considered its inherent power to protect the identity of the parties and the children involved.

The court applied sections 70G, 70H, and 70J of the *Family Law Act* 1975 (Cth), which provide for the registration of overseas child orders and their effect once registered. Section 4 of the Act defines "overseas child order" broadly to include orders determining with whom a child is to live, or providing for a person to have custody, spend time with, or have contact with a child under 18. The court found that the US orders fell within this definition. The court was satisfied that the conditions for registration were met and that it had the discretion to register the orders.

The court ordered that the orders of the District Court of L County, State C, United States of America, made on 18 May 2017, be registered with the court. In addition, the court made orders to protect the anonymity of the applicants, the children, and the gestational carrier, restricting publication of identifying details and requiring leave from a judge to search the court file.