Arabic version: كوينزلاند تُحدّث إرشادات الخصوبة للأزواج من الجنس نفسه

According to ABC News, Queensland Health has revised fertility clinic guidance so same-sex couples who both conceive using the same donor are defined as one family.

The earlier guidance, issued in February to help providers apply Queensland’s assisted reproductive technology legislation, had treated lesbian couples who both carried pregnancies as two families. It disrupted treatment for several couples and affected a woman who had to seek government permission to use her own embryos.

Queensland limits donated sperm or eggs to creating no more than 10 Australian families, a measure intended to reduce the risk of unintentional incestuous relationships between genetic siblings. Chief Health Officer Marianne Gale said the earlier interpretation had the potential to create unintended consequences. The revised approach applies going forward and retrospectively from March 1, 2026.

Fertility lawyer Stephen Page called the update a “real victory of advocacy”. Kate Cantrell, who with her fiance Jessie Fraher had been told they were not the same family while planning a second child, said she was relieved other same-sex couples would not face the same situation.

Rainbow Families equality director Heather Corkhill said the change was an important win for Queensland families because it could allow more people to use the same donor for biologically related siblings. Queensland Health said the updated approach continues to protect donor-conceived people while better reflecting social family structures.