Childless couples thrown a lifeline

One woman's 14-year battle with infertility has led to couples unable to have children now being able to start a family using surrogacy - without one of the partners having to give eggs or sperm to the birth mother. In the first-of-its-kind case, a Cape Town woman successfully challenged a provision of the Children's Act of 2005 that allows surrogacy only when at least one of the commissioning parents contributes an egg or sperm.