A Handmaid’s Tale Down Under?

Commercial Surrogacy in Australia

What is a Mother?

At one time in Australia’s history, it was accepted government policy to remove the babies of young, single mothers at birth and give them up for adoption. In 2013, Julia Gillard apologised on behalf of the Australian government to those women. She recognised that these policies – which had the best interests of the child at heart – “struck at the most primal and sacred bond there is: the bond between a mother and her baby.”

In 2013, the definition of “mother” – like the definition of “woman” – still had a simple answer. A mother was someone who conceives and gives birth to a baby. Since then, more widespread use of assisted reproductive technology has introduced complexity. It is now possible for a woman to carry and give birth to a baby who is, genetically speaking, unrelated to her. Is she still that child’s mother?

The cultural fascination with erasing male/female difference has also changed the way parents are recognised. Birth certificates that once identified a child’s “mother” and “father” now list “parent 1” and “parent 2.” Some Australian schools are following suit, their websites erasing the terms “mother” and “father.” Herald Sun columnist, Susie O’Brien, assured us some years back that despite our instinctive misgivings, the official erasure of gendered parenting was one crucial step on the march to Progress: “Sure, it feels challenging, but it makes sense. Parent one and two is much more appropriate for same-sex parents or those who have a fluid, transitioning or diverse gender identity. We need to be more inclusive in order to properly reflect the diversity of families today.” Similarly, at a school in NSW’s Hunter Valley renamed a Mother’s Day stall to “Family Gift Stall”, the grammar school Principal, Rebecca Butterworth, assured concerned mothers that the “intention in renaming the stall was to ensure that the children in our school who don’t have a mother in their home feel welcome and supported as they purchase an item from the stall.”