A 27‑year‑old woman from the Gold Coast, already mother of five, gave birth in November to a boy and a girl who share a womb but have no genetic link. The girl is the biological child of a commissioning couple who lack a uterus, while the boy is the surrogate’s own child, conceived naturally with her husband during the same ovulation window.
The couple entered an altruistic surrogacy arrangement after meeting the surrogate through a mutual friend and social media. An embryo created from the couple’s egg and sperm was transferred to the surrogate’s uterus as part of standard IVF practice. Because the transfer was timed to the surrogate’s natural ovulation, she was also fertile and became pregnant through intercourse, resulting in a rare case of simultaneous IVF and natural conception.
Queensland’s surrogacy legislation prohibits the separation of “birth siblings” when a surrogacy leads to multiple births. The Children’s Court of Queensland, presided over by Judge Jodie Wooldridge KC, ruled that the twins do not qualify as “birth siblings” under the Surrogacy Act because they were conceived separately and are not genetically related. This interpretation allowed each family to retain custody of its biological child without breaching the law.
Since the birth, each couple has been raising its own child, and no dispute over parentage has arisen. An independent counsellor concluded that separation would not cause psychological harm, emphasizing that the children’s well‑being depends more on caregiving quality and openness about their origins.
