Ms Fiona Darroch1
1Relationspace, Sydney, Australia
Biography:
Fiona Darroch is a clinical psychologist who serves as a Single Expert, providing reports and expert testimony in Family Law proceedings. She has delivered presentations on a wide range of topics both nationally and internationally and recently contributed a chapter to the Elgar Studies in International Family Law publication, entitled ‘Children’s Right to Identity, Selfhood and International Family Law’. Additionally, Fiona is the editor of the Pacifica Congress Family Law Journal, ‘Issues’.
The global use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) has led to a significant rise in parenting matters involving children born through surrogacy, donor conception, and embryo donation, with individuals from increasingly diverse cultural and community backgrounds seeking access. Legislators face ongoing challenges in keeping pace with rapid advances in fertility technology. Consequently, Single Experts are frequently required to elucidate the circumstances surrounding a child’s conception or the commissioning and storage of embryos. The terminology utilised by gamete vendors and fertility clinics is often imprecise or misleading, sometimes intentionally so, and media narratives may also employ language that is emotive or ambiguous. Employing a lexicon that is both medically and legally accurate enables report writers to foster a clearer understanding of the relationships experienced by donor-conceived children—including their connections with genetic and non-genetic family members and donor-siblings. Recognising and supporting the significance of these relationships promotes a child-focused perspective, rather than a parent-centred one, in legal matters relating to donor conception. Furthermore, avoiding outdated or redundant terms such as 'birth mother', and instead adopting precise, non-gendered language aligned with preferences expressed by the donor-conceived community, allows report writers to convey a nuanced understanding of the complexities involved in donor conception, minimize potential offense, and maintain a child-centric approach throughout their work.