NY man should have had a good lawyer

NY man should have had a good lawyer

This story is apparently a case of when truth is stranger than fiction…

The New York Times reports…a gay Jewish couple marry in Massachusetts , have a child by a surrogate, and obtain an adoption order in New York so that both are recognised as parents.

Then they split up…

One of them allegedly decides to take off with the child and after reading the Hague convention, flees to Israel. While there, he apparently receives a phone call on his mobile from a cop in New York, tells the cop openly that he is in Israel with the boy, that he read the Hague convention and that there was nothing the cop could do.

Wrong.

The other dad then gets an order in New York. The Israeli court says that the Hague convention does not apply, and before you know it the boy is back in New York and the fleeing father has been charged over the whole affair.

The Hague Convention is formally called the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. It allows for the speedy return of children who have been wrongfully taken (or kept) from one convention country to another convention country. Both the USA and Israel are convention countries. Australia is also a convention country.

Things to Read, Watch & Listen

Monash IVF Scandal: What Went Wrong and What Happens Next?

In this episode, Stephen dives into the shocking events surrounding the recent Monash IVF case in Brisbane, where a tragic embryo mix-up occurred — the first of its kind in Australia.

Surrogacy and Medicare: Why the Outdated Exclusion Needs to Go

In this episode of the Australian Family and Fertility Law Podcast, Stephen Page dives into a long-overdue issue: the exclusion of surrogacy from Medicare funding in Australia.

Resolving Australian Embryo Disputes

At the 27th Annual Family Law Conference in Cape Town on 28 March 2025, leading fertility and family law expert Stephen Page delivered a landmark presentation on how Australian law approaches embryo disputes.

Family Law Section Law Council of Australia Award
Member of Queensland law society
Family law Practitioners Association
International Academy of Family Lawyers - IAFL
Mediator Standards Board