Kelsey and Aaron Rouse describe their six-and-a-half-year struggle with infertility as an "ongoing nightmare".
The Darwin couple has spent more than $70,000 trying to have a baby: visiting two separate IVF clinics and having 13 embryo transfers.
Ten of those transfers failed, and three ended in miscarriage.
"We create the perfect embryos, it's my uterus that cannot hold a pregnancy."
Mr and Mrs Rouse are hoping to fall pregnant in the final two rounds of IVF they have committed to this year.
But if this fails, Mrs Rouse, now 35, said the couple could be "out of options" — unless the territory legalises surrogacy.
NT only place in Australia with no surrogacy laws
The NT is the only jurisdiction in Australia with no surrogacy laws, meaning intending parents need to move interstate or travel overseas to access the service.
Mr and Mrs Rouse have considered moving, but they were both born in the territory and have built their lives here together, over the course of their 18-year relationship.
"It's our home, our families are here," Mrs Rouse said.
"If we couldn't do surrogacy up here, we would move … but we'd have to uproot our entire lives."
Mrs Rouse works as a teacher and Mr Rouse runs his own carpentry business: they said if they needed to relocate, it's unlikely they'd be able to move back.
Victorian surrogacy and family lawyer Sarah Jefford said she knows dozens of Northern Territory families who have left the territory to access surrogacy interstate or used one based overseas.
This year, after years of waiting, territory families may be able to access surrogacy locally for the first time.
Bill to be debated in May sittings
In 2018, Health Minister Natasha Fyles asked her government to look at developing surrogacy laws.
The surrogacy bill was finally introduced in NT Parliament in March this year and – pending any amendments – is expected to be debated in May.
Ms Fyles said the legislation had the support of the Northern Territory Labor government, which had the majority of the parliament, and meant the bill was likely to pass.
Shadow Minster for Health Bill Yan said the opposition also supported the proposed bill "in principal" and he "looked forward" to the debate in May.
If it passes, Ms Fyles said eligible families could be able to surrogacy legally by the end of 2022.
Mrs Rouse said this could be "absolutely perfect timing" for her family's situation.
They're still hopeful to conceive using IVF, but if the next two rounds fail, one of their friends has volunteered to carry the Rouses' baby to term.
"We've been so lucky to have such a wonderful offer from our friends, except we cannot do surrogacy in the NT," Mrs Rouse said.
What's in the surrogacy bill?
Ms Fyles said the bill had been "a long time coming" but it was an "important, complex" piece of legislation which had been "designed around the best interest of the child".
The bill does not allow for commercial surrogacy – where the surrogate is paid – but Ms Fyles said intending parents can help cover "reasonable costs" such as medical expenses.
The surrogate is also in control of their pregnancy, and parentage transfers over at birth.
Both surrogates and intending parents must undergo counselling, be over the age of 25 and be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
Ms Jefford, who is also an IVF mum, egg donor, former surrogate and running as a Greens candidate in the federal seat of Wills, said she was "very happy" with the bill, which was similar to laws in other Australian states and territories.
"It's really good that there's a statement in there saying the surrogate maintains her bodily autonomy just as any other pregnant person," she said.
Ms Jefford's only criticisms were that the bill did not allow people from New Zealand, who could have been living in Australia for "most of their lives", to qualify, and that it had been a long time coming.
"We had surrogacy laws across the rest of Australia anywhere from 2004, 2008 and here in Victoria where I am, it's been in place since 2010," she said.
'A long road' for territory families
Rebecca Want de Rowe, who has been campaigning for the introduction of surrogacy laws in the NT since 2018, is waiting for the bill to officially pass before celebrating.
Ahead of the debate, Ms Want de Rowe has scheduled meetings with opposition and independent members, bringing them stories from NT families – including Mr and Mrs Rouse – to illustrate what surrogacy could mean for Territorians.
"It's been a long road," Ms Want de Rowe said.
"I'm feeling anxious, hoping that it gets through.
Mrs Rouse wanted families in the NT – herself and Aaron included – to have the option to access surrogacy close to home if they chose.
"There needs to be good reason to keep this life-changing bill from Territorians, when the rest of Australians have had access for years," she said.
"If having a biological child doesn't happen because it's physically impossible, then that's a hurdle we've got to get over.
"But if it doesn't happen because the NT government doesn't legalise surrogacy: that's bulls***."
