Couple seeks changes to Manitoba surrogacy law after son's birth

Daryl Nadeau is getting used to being a dad. His son Theo was born last month through surrogacy. It was a two-year process, both medically and legally, done entirely in Manitoba for him, his partner Mackenzie Dick, and their surrogate. We've really wanted a child for a really long time, and so for us it's surreal in a sense. While the two dads are on it now, the surrogate is automatically listed as a parent on a child's initial birth certificate in Manitoba. Nadeau and Dick paid around $6,000 in legal costs and waited five weeks for the change. But it was really neat. It was neat to see the birth certificate, you know, both of our names on there, where he was born. Manitoba requires a preconception surrogacy agreement and judicial oversight after delivery. Family lawyer Patricia Lane says this means a judge has to do a review before removing the surrogate and adding intended parents to birth registration documents. There is, of course, the interest of society in making sure that surrogates are not being exploited and there's proper safeguards in place. Some provinces, including Ontario, have a more streamlined administrative approach once a child is born, which doesn't involve a judge to get a birth certificate changed. That's what Nadeau would like to see here. He filed a human rights complaint and wrote a letter to the government. Premier Wab Kinew apologized Thursday and promised to fix the process. It's supposed to be the happiest moment of your life. It's not supposed to be the start of an endless litigious process of cutting through red tape and paying fees and stuff like that. That's not right. Nadeau welcomes the Premier's comments but won't celebrate until he sees concrete change. It is a real barrier for families like ours and it will be nice for it to be easier in the future. A government spokesperson says the Justice Minister's office is looking at what legislative or regulatory changes would be required to make sure other families don't go through the same thing. Josh Crabb, CBC News, Winnipeg.