In this video, Award-Winning Fertility Lawyer and Accredited Family Law Specialist Stephen Page gives an overview of his life and career in family and fertility law over the years.
Transcript
G’day. I’m Stephen Page and I’m from Page Provan and Family in Fertility Lawyers in Brisbane.
I was recently sitting on a law committee, and looking at my age, my skin type, there was a comment that said “male, pale and stale.”
And I said, well, of course, that’s me. I’m male, pale and stale. And the comment that came back, not from me, I might add, was “No, Stephen, no, you’ve got that wrong. Yes, you are pale, and yes, you may be male, but no, you’re not stale.”
My life, I thought, was pretty dull. I was brought up in an intact family and by accident I went and did law. And I did it a very very long time ago. And I decided again by accident to do family law because I thought that that was something that was really important. I liked the idea of helping real people, as opposed to corporations, because the idea of helping someone else is something that is very meaningful to me. It’s a great honour to help others, and I’ve been doing that a long time.
I was admitted as way back as long ago as 1987, and since 1996, I have been a Queensland Law Society Accredited Family Law Specialist. In fact, in 2021, I received a 25-year certificate from the Queensland Law Society in a public ceremony for that.
But what drives me is a sense of fairness. Fundamental to our democratic way of dealing with society is that there must be a system of law. And the way that we look at the law is that all must be equal under the law.
I was confronted when I left law school by the reality of domestic violence. I’d never seen it in my lifetime. And there it was, way back in 1985. And I remember one of my first cases, a woman who was in her 70s, and she had been beaten up by her husband. She was living in a caravan, she was in absolute poverty, and she was growing her own vegetables.
And I thought, this is a terrible, terrible thing that’s happened to her. And she taught me something about humanity, which was, despite everything that had happened to her, she was an optimist. And that’s why she was growing her own vegetables. She wasn’t just going to play the role of a victim. She wanted to stand up and be proud about who she was.
That’s one of the things that drives me as a person. I want to make sure that the law is fair. What can I do each and every day to make the world a better place? And as a result of that, I have been served on any number of committees to do with the law. For example, with the Queensland Law Society, with the American Bar Association, with the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys, and with the most elite group of family lawyers in the world, the International Academy of Family Lawyers, among others.
I want to see that the world is a better place. And by accident, I discovered that I was destined as part of my journey with family law, to help those who were suffering through domestic violence for those who wanted to become parents.
As a result, my specialty has not only been just family law, which is, of course, property settlement, divorce, spousal maintenance, child support, parenting disputes. I’ve been there, done that. You see all these lawyers who talk about, “Well, I’m a senior this and complex that.” Yeah, I’ve done all that, and I still do all that. And whether someone’s problem is a simple problem or a complex problem in the eyes of a lawyer, for them it’s a complex problem, and they’re entitled to get the best advice that they can about it. And I wanted to help people do that.
But somehow, in all of this, I’ve also become an expert, an international expert, to do with fertility law, including surrogacy. Part of that journey has been a surprise for me.
When I was helping others to become parents, I never thought that I would ever need the help of someone in this field. But as it turns out, I had to have a child through surrogacy with my husband. I never thought that I would ever have a divorce. Been there, done that. I’ve had all the pain of divorce, all that pain.
Just because of a family lawyer doesn’t mean that it’s any easier. It’s awful. And I certainly have some practical ideas about how to make the journey easier for others.
But I’ve been lucky. I’ve been lucky because every day I wake up and I go, “Aren’t I lucky to help others today? Aren’t I lucky to make a difference? Aren’t I lucky to have a meaningful life?” And a meaningful life, of course, is part family, and I’m lucky to have family and part because I’m able to help others. And both of that is direct by assisting clients, and part of that is by a call to arms to make sure that the law is fair. And I’ll just give you one example of many.
Back in 2012, we had an Attorney General in Queensland who said that our surrogacy laws should change so that gays, lesbians, and singles should go to jail if they wanted to become parents.
I thought this was outrageous. I thought that the law should apply to everyone.
And the idea that someone should be penalised because of their relationship status or their sexuality, I just thought was a terrible one. And I decided to put a line in the sand and oppose this.
I was told at the time, “Look, the government’s got an outstanding majority. This project is doomed. You’re brave.” In other words, foolish for taking this action. And I just thought, well, it’s a question of right and wrong, and what was being put forward was wrong.
So a group of us decided to take on the government. It seemed at first that we were a really big group. We were seven. And over a period of nine months opposing this, that group whittled down to two, the other guy and me. And when we started this process, I thought our chances of success were between zero and 3%. Really that low. And on this particular day, nine months after this campaign had started, the other guy contacted me and said, “Stephen, look, I’m out of here. I’m burned out. I’ve really tried very hard and that’s it.”
I couldn’t blame him. I couldn’t blame him. It was really, really hard stuff. I was thoroughly depressed because I thought, “Well, it’s me against government, just me. The other six people have gone. I am it, so be it. This is my burden, I’m not going to back off.”
Three days later, the news broke. The government had decided to pull the pin on that. We had won.
So what I’ve been told was foolish, I decided was right. I thought I do more of this than anyone else. If I don’t fight this, I would be seen as a coward. And I was not prepared to do that.
It was important to put a line in the sand. Even if we lost, it was the right fight to have.
So welcome to my website. I hope you like the items that I have here, including my book, Surrogacy For Australians. Some people paint me just as a surrogacy lawyer. I’m not.
I’m a family lawyer. I’ve been a family lawyer forever and a day. And I love helping people. I love helping people through their problems. I love helping people get up on their own two feet and get on with their lives.
I love helping people have a family. Nothing gives me greater joy, either of those helping people get up on their own two feet or having a family. It is really such a joyful experience for me.
Welcome to my website. Good luck.
Thank you.