Queensland Consolidated Acts

STATUS OF CHILDREN ACT 1978 - SECT 17

17 Artificial insemination—Presumption as to status

(1) A reference in this section to a fertilisation procedure is a reference to the artificial insemination of a woman where the semen used for the artificial insemination—

(a) was produced by a man other than her husband; or

(b) was a mixture of semen, part of which was produced by a man other than her husband and part of which was produced by her husband.

(2) Where a married woman has undergone a fertilisation procedure as a result of which she has become pregnant—

(a) the husband shall be presumed, for all purposes, to have caused the pregnancy and to be the father of any child born as a result of the pregnancy; and

(b) any man, not being her husband, who produced semen used for the procedure shall, for all purposes, be presumed not to have caused the pregnancy and not to be the father of any child born as a result of the pregnancy.

(3) A presumption of law that arises by virtue of subsection (2) is irrebuttable.

(4) In any proceedings in which the operation of subsection (2) is relevant, a husband’s consent to the carrying out of a fertilisation procedure in respect of his wife shall be presumed but that presumption is rebuttable.