12.35 – 12.45pm

The Child’s Perspective

Critics insist that surrogacy isn’t fair on the unborn child who gets no choice in the matter. Claudia Calero endured a long battle with endometriosis and a hysterectomy. She would never carry the child she longed for. Then, back in in 1994, Claudia’s sister offered to carry a child using her own eggs – traditional surrogacy. They fought a three year battle in NSW to ensure the process could be recognised and parentage transferred. Baby Isabella was the result, birthed by her auntie in 1997. Now aged twenty-one, Isabella will talk about when she was told what, who she considers her mum, what she tells friends and the impact of surrogacy on her own sense of self.

Isabella Calero, NSW’s first child via surrogacy