Stewart is a Barrister and Solicitor at D&S Law, Auckland specialising in the law relating to assisted reproductive technology, domestic and international surrogacy, and adoption, as well as immigration and refugees. His expertise in the field of surrogacy saw him appointed as an expert advisor to the Law Commission when it reviewed New Zealand’s surrogacy laws. Stewart together with his same-sex partner are the parents to children born as a result of domestic altruistic surrogacy. Stewart is a keen advocate for LGBTIQ rights and for access generally to assisted reproductive technology. In that regard, Stewart obtained a ground-breaking judgment in the New Zealand courts when he successfully argued the case for same-sex de facto couples to be able to be granted joint adoption orders. Stewart also represented a female same-sex couple in mediation with the Department of Internal Affairs, where he was successful in having the Department agree to change its procedures, and allow two women for the first time in New Zealand history to be named on a child’s birth certificate as “mother” and “mother”, when the child was born as a result of assisted reproductive technology.
