Ms Marian Boteju:

Examples have been cropping up over the last few years of children who are the result of surrogate pregnancies or IVF arrangements after being separated from their birth mothers, in the context of protecting the rights of children and the stage at which they are able to work through their psychology and experiences and put a voice on their desires and rights.

I encourage all the presenters to familiarise themselves with the Anonymous Us project, a collection of stories and testimonials by children who are the products of surrogacy or IVF arrangements. It puts a voice to some to the issues with which they struggle as part of being a product of such arrangements. It is very beneficial for anybody presenting here to understand that there are children out there working through some serious difficulties and challenges, and they are able to speak about their experiences. When one considers the rights of the child, a child is not able to express his or her quandary at two to five years old. Only as adults can they work through it and deal with some of the shame of even speaking out against or verbalising the discomfort they may have felt with their families of placement. There is much psychology and emotion behind working through not understanding why one does not fit in and why one's biological parents gave one up. It would be beneficial, in the context of trying to address a very real issue, to understand that there are people speaking out about this now. They are having a hard time feeling they are able to speak out because they are coming from a certain context.