Queensland sperm donor limit counts same-sex couples as separate families

Same-sex female couples in Queensland, Australia, have been told that they are not classed as one family for the purposes of sperm donation.

Like the UK, Queensland has a limit of ten families that can be created using sperm from a single donor. However, according to new guidance, if two women in a same-sex partnership become pregnant using the same donor, this counts as two families.

'I think it's incredibly unfair,' said Kate Cantrell, who shares a daughter with her fiancée Jessie Fraher. 'It's the symbolic significance of what that says to you when you have your government telling you you're no longer considered a family.'

The couple's existing child was carried by Fraher, but their donor's ten 'family slots' are now all filled. They would like another child, this time carried by Cantrell, but were told by their fertility clinic that since the new guidance was introduced in February, they could only use the same donor if Fraher carries again. If Cantrell wanted to experience pregnancy, they would have to select a different donor.

Queensland's Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2024 states that: 'A [fertility treatment] provider must not use a donated gamete or donated embryo in a [fertility treatment] procedure if (a) it would result in more than ten donor-related Australian families…'

The governance introduced in February 2026 defines what counts as a family: 'Under the Act, a donor-related Australian family includes a parent, their spouse (if they have one), and their children,' but then goes on to say that same-sex female couples count as two separate families. The guidance permits a fertility clinic to apply for an exemption to the limit on behalf of such couples.

A Queensland health spokesperson did not address why the guidance does not class same-sex couples as a single family but said: 'The amended Act allows for case-by-case discretion enabling [fertility treatment] providers to apply to exceed the donor-related family limit where it might impact a family wanting to use the same donor'.

Cantrell and Fraher have been able to resolve their situation, but Heather Corkhill from Rainbow Families Australia called the guidance 'devastating for people who are halfway through creating their families', adding that the original law had deliberately been worded to be inclusive of same-sex couples.

Sperm donor family limits exist to protect the interests of donor-conceived people, and to reduce the risk of large numbers of half-siblings who may not be aware of one another (see BioNews 1240).