Australian Couple Wins Parenting Case

A gay Australian couple who paid an Indian surrogate to give birth to twins won full parenting rights for the nongenetic father.

The Herald Sun reports that the Melbourne couple won the case in family court. Their 20-month-old girls were born in Mumbai to an Indian woman who carried eggs from an anonymous donor impregnated with sperm from one of the men. Overseas surrogacy is booming in Australia.

"In this case, the children do not have the benefit of a mother, but they have the good fortune of having two fathers," said Justice Paul Cronin, according to the Sun.

"As a matter of law, the word 'parent' tends to suggest some biological connection, but ... biology does not really matter; it is all about parental responsibility."

The couple's attorney said the ruling could pave the way for other same-sex couples seeking full parenting rights in Australia.