Professor Deirdre Madden:

The research issue has been aired and Professor Golombok's work has been mentioned a number of times because she is the world expert in this area. It might not be appropriate for me to say this but I suggest she might be invited to give evidence before the committee on her methodology and the types of studies she has carried out over many years.

Regarding the ban on surrogacy in some jurisdictions, the Senator is correct, this is not a universally accepted practice. I hope I have never suggested that is the case. It is prohibited in a number of jurisdictions for policy reasons. My view on that is that when one considers the evidence in any jurisdiction where surrogacy has been prohibited, it has not worked. It has either pushed surrogacy underground with no protection for anybody or it has forced people to go abroad to engage in surrogacy elsewhere and that raises the risks of exploitation the Senator mentioned. The evidence shows that in any country where surrogacy is prohibited people in that jurisdiction still avail of surrogacy outside the national boundaries of that jurisdiction.