Toni Street pleads for a law change

Media personality Toni Street is reviving calls to change New Zealand’s ‘‘outdated’’ adoption rules as she is yet to adopt her biological son, born in August via a surrogate.

Her Instagram post about signing a change.org petition to update the Adoption Act caught Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s eye and garnered a promise that ‘‘fixing’’ the Adoption Act was on the cards.

‘‘It is incredibly hard for loving parents to adopt in this country and our vulnerable children deserve better,’’ Street wrote on Instagram.

‘‘I’ve also experienced first hand how outdated the process is for surrogacy ... we are still waiting to legally adopt our biological son. It is a long, slow, complicated process that doesn’t need to be.’’

Ardern took time to write a comment on Street’s post last week between TV interviews and addressing the United Nations during a trip to New York: ‘‘The adoption act is well over 50 years old and definitely needs fixing. It’s on our work programme!’’

In 2016, a Human Rights Review Tribunal decision found the Adoption Act 1955 and the Adult Adoption Information Act 1985 discriminated against people based on sex, age, marital status and disability.

Auckland-based Christian Newman and husband Mark Edwards – aka the ‘Baby Daddies’ – started the change.org petition after adopting their son Francis, born via a surrogate in June. The couple documented their three-year battle to find a surrogate mother on social media.

The petition also calls for surrogates to have the option to be compensated for their time, loss of wages or any other costs other than direct costs such as hospital visits and drugs.