WA's surrogacy and IVF laws overhauled as legislation passes state parliament

Same-sex couples, single people, transgender and intersex West Australians will be able to access assisted reproductive technology (ART) and surrogacy, almost a decade after reforms were first promised.

The landmark legislation, which removes the requirement for people to demonstrate medical infertility to access ART and allows more West Australians to access altruistic — or unpaid — surrogacy, passed WA's lower house of parliament on Wednesday night after it had considered amendments. 

The legislation passed the upper house earlier in the day. 

The reforms were first promised by former premier Mark McGowan in 2017, but faced years of roadblocks and delays despite Labor's overwhelming majority.

After weeks of debate and amendments, the bill reintroduced in August has gained enough support.

Prior to its passing, surrogacy in WA was limited to single women with reproductive health problems and 'opposite sex' couples.

What's changed?

The Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Bill 2025 replaces several pieces of legislation and makes amendments to other Acts.

In short, it overhauls the state's surrogacy and IVF laws to reflect medical and scientific advancements, but also public sentiment.

It also establishes the Assisted Reproductive Technology Advisory and Review Board.

The bill brings WA more in line with other jurisdictions by expanding access to fertility treatment regardless of sex, relationship status, gender identity, sex characteristics and orientation.

It means single men and same-sex couples will be able to access ART treatments, including surrogacy, and women in same-sex relationships will be able to access reciprocal IVF, where one partner submits the eggs and the other carries the child. 

The bill also bolsters protections for donor-conceived people by extending their right to access important information about their genetic heritage.

'Devastating' blow

For Ruby and her wife, building a family has been a challenging journey.

They moved to WA from Britain around 10 years ago and planned to do reciprocal IVF, which enables both women in same-sex relationships to be involved in the conception of a child.

"Once we started to explore fertility options in WA, [we found] that is not something that's allowed," Ruby told the ABC.

The pair had two children through other means but have been saving their last embryos for the past few years — hoping the laws would one day change.

They said they were "ecstatic" to hear things would be changing. 

"It's always been a dream of ours," Ruby said.

"I'm turning 40 this year, so I guess time is not really on my side. We're looking possibly next year, early next year."

Perth couple Cale Byrne and Matthew McLean have been waiting four years to start a family.

"The next step for us is to keep putting ourselves out there and sharing our story ... hopefully one day we do find that special someone to help us start our own family," Mr Byrne said.

The couple already have three embryos on ice and nine eggs as backup in Melbourne, donated from Mr Byrne's sister, but have been in a "waiting game" for legislation to pass.

"It has been a little bit tough, but the community here is so good — there are so many amazing people fighting for equality," Mr Byrne said.

"We really did consider going to Canada … it's a lot pricier but we'd love to do it at home, it's a lot easier." 

Why did it take so long?

First promised by Mr McGowan almost a decade ago, the reforms were put on the backburner after several disruptions.

Upper house Liberal MP Nick Goiran used one of the longest filibusters in WA Parliament's history to delay a vote on the contentious issue.

Attention then turned to social reforms like voluntary euthanasia, before the COVID pandemic hit. 

Over the next few years, the legislation languished despite Labor gaining total control over both houses at the 2021 state election.

This time round, the reintroduced bill passed the lower house just over a month after being introduced in August and has been in the upper house since then.

But a wait time of up to 18 months is expected until people can access services under the new laws to account for the drafting of the regulations.

Recent time limit reforms in the WA parliament have curtailed filibustering tactics, but the legislation still faced lengthy debate.

Last month, Labor MLC Katrina Stratton labelled some of the debate "homophobic" and "offensive".

"It's been a long couple of weeks, I think some of the homophobia and the critique of single mums, as a single mum, I find quite personally offensive and I know that there's people listening in who are also finding some of the debate hard listening," Dr Stratton said.

WA Greens Leader Brad Pettitt said there were "tears in the parliament" as the legislation passed the upper house.