Welcome to Conversations, the podcast with Surrogacy Australia.
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Join Anna McKie in conversation with surrogates and parents who have navigated Australian altruistic surrogacy. Anna is a gestational surrogate, high school Math teacher and surrogacy educator working with Surrogacy Australia and running SASS (Surrogacy Australia’s Support Service).
These podcasts were recorded as part of our free, fortnightly webinar series. If you would like to attend one, check out our dates and registration links. The recordings can also be found on our YouTube channel so you can see the photos that are described in the recordings.
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Recent episodes
Episode 159 – Education – Order of steps for surrogacy
These steps assume you have found a surrogate. If you haven’t found a surrogate, and want to hear more about that, join me in a regular, free, Wednesday night webinar. Your options are finding a known surrogate, by telling family and friends about your need for one, or finding an unknown surrogate which would mean joining online groups or SASS, which stands for Surrogacy Australia’s Support Service.
Eligible for surrogacy
Spend time forming your Surroship
IVF clinic
Counselling and Legals
Pregnancy and Birth
Transfer of parentage
Support the child to understand their story
Episode 158 – Kate Cherry – Lawyer
❤️ What are reasonable expenses that we can cover for our surrogate?
🧡 Are the Agreements enforceable for surrogacy and egg/sperm donation?
💛 Do we as IPs ever get our names on the birth certificate?
💚 Is anyone ever denied a Parentage Order?
💙 What should we look for in a surrogacy lawyer (for IPs and the surrogate)?
💜 What if the relationship breaks down among the team?
Episode 156 – Jess – surrogate
Jess and husband, Scott, live in South West Sydney with their 2 daughters and she has birthed 2 girls as a surrogate, Firth in April 2022 and Logan in September 2025. The two dads, Ryan and Adam, who live in the Blue Mountains, used eggs from Ryan’s sister Rhiannon. It is through Rhiannon that this connection was made, as she and Jess went to school together. In terms of being a surrogate, Jess says “It didn’t feel like an obligation, it felt like a calling, like I was made to do this.”
Episode 155 – Education – Are your names on the birth certificate?
The current process is the surrogate, and her partner if she has one, goes down on the first birth certificate as birth parent(s). The reason for this is so the parentage can be transferred from her to the IPs, the Intended Parents who are now parents.
Alannah and husband Jayden from regional Victoria, became parents to their daughter (Phoenix) in December 2022. Phoenix was carried by surrogate Tara, Alannah’s best friend, and was also created using donor eggs from Alannah’s sister, Angela. It was a very long journey to parenthood due to a rare form of non-HVP cervical cancer. Tara had both hyperemesis gravidarum and pelvic instability in the pregnancy which left her very immobile, in pain and unable to work for 18 months. On a more positive note, Alannah was able to induce lactation and comfort feed Phoenix, allowing her to feel very much like a mum at long last.
Aaron and Jake from Adelaide became parents to baby boy Xavier in December 2019 when their surrogate, and now life long friend, Amber, birthed as a Traditional Surrogate (her egg). Aaron is passionate about sharing their journey as 2 dads, supporting others who are the beginning of their surrogacy journey, and was also a Parent Mentor for SASS.