Ms Meredith Baldwin:

I do not have much to add. The ladies have summarised it well, and we share some similarities. As Ms Roberts said, I have written a couple of notes on identity. For me, the way that my parents and birth mum chose for me to be told at such a young age has helped me to accept it. It has just been part of who I am forever. In school and even up to my working life, I never had anybody make any negative comments. I have always been received very well. Generally people ask questions about it such as whether I see my surrogate mum, and I have always been open and happy to talk about it.

Regarding birth certificates, interestingly, I do not actually know the length of the period of time of the legal adoption process so I will have to check that with my parents. I have never asked them that question. I am assuming it must have been fairly quick because they have never mentioned it. I must have been very young when it went through. As Ms Roberts said, having one's parents on one's birth certificate is very important, but it would be insensitive, perhaps, to not have it mentioned somewhere, whether that is on a portal or on an added part of the birth certificate, whether one comes into the world through surrogacy or adoption or anything other than the norm. It is important to have that documented, for sure.