Queensland Consolidated Acts

STATUS OF CHILDREN ACT 1978 - SECT 18

18 Implantation procedure—Presumption as to status where donor semen used

(1) A reference in this section to a fertilisation procedure is a reference to the procedure of implanting in the womb of a woman—

(a) an embryo derived from an ovum produced by her and fertilised outside her body by semen produced by a man other than her husband; or

(b) for the purpose of fertilising an ovum inside her body, an ovum produced by her together with semen produced by a man other than 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 produced the semen used for the fertilisation of the ovum used in the procedure and to be the father of any child born as a result of the pregnancy; and

(b) the man who produced the semen used for the fertilisation of the ovum used in the procedure shall, for all purposes, be presumed not to have produced the semen 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.