How a woman gave birth to ‘sufficiently atypical’ unrelated twins
A Gold Coast couple and a surrogate mother faced a legal challenge after a single embryo transfer resulted in twins: one biological child of the intended parents and one biological child of the surrogate. The court had to intervene to clarify parentage for the unrelated twins born in 2025.
Why it matters
This case highlights the complex legal and ethical challenges surrounding surrogacy and reproductive technology when unexpected biological outcomes occur.
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Share A A A Two families have had to ask the court to separate biologically unrelated twins born on the Gold Coast, in what a judge referred to as “sufficiently atypical” circumstances.
A woman, known as DZ in court documents, agreed to be a surrogate for a couple, known as BNJ and DRJ, in September 2024.
A woman has given birth to unrelated twins in Queensland. iStock This agreement stipulated that any child born through the arrangement was to be treated as the child of BNJ and DRJ and not of the surrogate and her spouse, known as FZ.
BNJ, then 25, is a childcare educator and DRJ, then 28, is a cabinetmaker. The surrogate and her partner, both then 27, have five other children including a child born in 2024.
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