Broadcaster Toni Street has elicited a promise from the prime minister that updating adoption laws is on the Government's agenda after the media personality posted on social media about having difficulty adopting her biological son born via a surrogate.
Street wrote in an Instagram post that she had signed a change.org petition for the New Zealand Adoption Act to be updated.
"It is incredibly hard for loving parents to adopt in this country and our vulnerable children deserve better," she wrote.
"I've also experienced first hand how outdated the process is for surrogacy... we are still waiting to legally adopt our biological son. It is a long, slow, complicated process that doesn't need to be."
Street's son was born via a surrogate in August.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern replied during her trip to New York last week, indicating change is on the Government's agenda.
"The adoption act is well over 50-years-old and definitely needs fixing. It's on our work programme!" she wrote on Instagram.
Aucklander Christian Newman and his husband Mark Edwards launched the change.org petition after adopting their son Francis who was born via a surrogate in June.
Mr Newman and Mr Edwards were not named on the birth certificate and had to adopt their son.
The petition says the ETHICS Committee approval process should remove any need for adoption and the intending parents should be listed as parents from the day the child is born.
It also says there is no ability for surrogacy agreements to be enforced and if the surrogate decided to keep the child, the law is in favour of the 'natural parent', the birth mother, even if they have no biological connection.
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