Queensland Woman Delivers Twin Infants with Separate Biological Fathers Following Surrogacy and Unplanned Natural Pregnancy

A woman from Queensland delivered twin infants, each biologically fathered by a different couple, in a case regarded as a first in Australia, unprecedented under existing surrogacy legislation.

The woman, whose identity is protected by the court order, simultaneously conceived an unplanned natural pregnancy while undergoing an IVF embryo transfer as part of a surrogacy agreement with another couple.

Both infants were born on the same day in November 2025 by Caesarean section. Parental responsibility for each child has been uncontested, and each has been raised by their respective biological parents over the past ten months.

Nevertheless, the matter required a complex proceeding in the Queensland Children’s Court, as the surrogacy legislation was drafted to prohibit the separation of children considered “birth siblings” arising from a single surrogacy pregnancy.

The court concluded that, although the children were gestational twins, they did not qualify as birth siblings under surrogacy law, and consequently issued an order confirming the parentage of each child’s biological parents.

The involved couples entered into an altruistic surrogacy arrangement after being introduced by mutual acquaintances.

One couple, identified in the judgment as BNJ and DRJ, was unable to conceive a child naturally because BNJ was born without a uterus.

They encountered DZ and FZ, a family already parenting five children; DZ volunteered as a surrogate, and an embryo was transferred via IVF in April 2025.

Approximately two weeks later, an ultrasound confirmed that DZ was carrying twins. Further testing determined that the girl was biologically related to BNJ and DRJ, while the boy was the biological child of DZ and FZ.

The boy was conceived naturally, separate from the embryo implantation process and without medical assistance.

The judgment notes that DZ and FZ had not intended to become pregnant, but the child is nevertheless loved and wanted by them.

Earlier this year, the parties retained an independent counsellor to prepare a report for the court, which was needed to confirm that BNJ and DRJ are the girl’s parents.

The report highlighted the potential emotional and developmental implications of the children being born as twins, indicating that this relationship will likely have lasting significance for both children, even though they are being raised in separate households.

Judge Jodie Woodridge KC examined whether the wording of the Queensland Surrogacy Act barred her from issuing a parentage order concerning the girl.

According to the Act, a court may not issue a parentage order for a single “birth sibling,” defined as a brother or sister born of the same pregnancy. When twins result from a surrogacy pregnancy, any parentage order must encompass both children and the intended parents.

Woodridge ruled that, given the unique circumstances, the boy and girl were not birth siblings and that the Act did not preclude the requested parentage order for either set of parents.

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