PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsCommentIreland's proposed surrogacy laws fail to acknowledge international arrangements

BioNews

Ireland's proposed surrogacy laws fail to acknowledge international arrangements

Published 11 February 2019 posted in Comment and appears in BioNews 986

Author

Dr Brian Tobin

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.

A recent survey involving 90 countries reveals the overwhelming popularity of international surrogacy arrangements among many Irish couples...

A recent survey involving 90 countries reveals the overwhelming popularity of international surrogacy arrangements among many Irish couples. The survey, carried out by Families through Surrogacy, an international non-profit organisation that provides support to couples and individuals going through this process, concludes that Ireland has the second-highest rate of surrogacy use in the world after Israel. Indeed, Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs reports that 159 babies born to surrogates abroad have entered the country with their intended parents via Emergency Travel Certificates in the last decade. 

Surrogacy remains unregulated by Irish law and this is why the vast number of Irish couples having recourse to surrogacy must go abroad to the USA, Canada, the Ukraine and other jurisdictions where this method of assisted human reproduction is recognised by law. In those jurisdictions where surrogacy is regulated and practised, the child's intended parents, the couple that commissioned the arrangement, are recognised as the legal parents. This is not so upon their return to Ireland, and proposed surrogacy laws will not alter this.

Despite the significant and growing number of children born through international surrogacy arrangements that are living in Ireland, the restrictive surrogacy proposals contained in the General Scheme of the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill, which has been undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny by the Joint Committee on Health for over a year (see BioNews 934), will not enable most parents who chose this route (or who might choose it in the future) to establish their legal parenthood under Irish law.

Ireland's proposed surrogacy laws will only prospectively regulate those surrogacy arrangements that are carried out in Ireland. Domestic, altruistic, gestational surrogacy will be regulated, while commercial surrogacy will be expressly prohibited. These proposals were drafted by the Department of Health, which has emphatically said that the state can only regulate assisted human reproduction activities that occur in Ireland.

This is a rather incongruous position given that the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 regulates assisted human reproduction activities that occurred outside of the state – provided he/she is the spouse, civil or cohabiting partner of the birth mother, an intended parent of a child conceived via donor sperm in a foreign clinic before the commencement of Part 2 of that legislation (which is due this year) – can have his/her parenthood recognised under Irish law.

In any event, the upshot of the proposed surrogacy laws means that the intended mother in an international surrogacy scenario will never be able to be recognised as her child's legal mother under Irish law, even where she has provided the egg used to form the embryo that was carried by the surrogate. The surrogate, as the person who gave birth, will continue to be regarded as the child's legal mother.

In Ireland, an intended mother can only be recognised by a court as a guardian of her child a minimum of two years after the child's birth via the provisions of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015. However, guardianship is but a legal concept that provides a person with parental responsibility for a child during childhood – it ends once the child reaches the age of 18. The intended father in an international surrogacy scenario can be recognised as the surrogate-born child's parent and guardian under existing law following a successful court application, but he must also be the genetic father.

Although fewer in number, male same-sex couples who avail of international surrogacy are similarly affected because where there are two intended male parents or co-fathers, the man who is not genetically linked to the child can never be recognised as a legal parent, and can only become a court-appointed guardian of the child after two years.

In the UK, both intended parents of children born through international surrogacy can have their legal parenthood recognised under UK domestic law because of the child-centred approach to the issue adopted by judges there. Given that the people voted to insert express protection for children's rights into the Irish Constitution in 2012, a child-centred approach to parenthood and international surrogacy is also required in this jurisdiction.

Under the 'Children's Amendment', Article 42A, the state affirms the 'natural and imprescriptible' rights of all children and promises, by its laws, 'to protect and vindicate those rights'. The General Scheme of the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill must be revised to reflect this express constitutional guarantee and the reality that many Irish couples have recourse to international surrogacy arrangements. For Irish couples, an estimated 68 percent of all surrogacies take place in the Ukraine; the state cannot simply enact legislation that wilfully chooses to ignore those Irish children who were born to surrogates abroad.

Although it is a complex and unenviable task, Irish policymakers must ensure that the rights of children, and parents, in international surrogacy arrangements are effectively realised in any future domestic legislation regulating surrogacy.

Related Articles

Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
News
28 January 2022 • 2 minutes read

Uncertainty for parents expecting babies born via surrogates in Ukraine

by Tom Turner

The Irish Government has requested that all families expecting a baby through a surrogate in Ukraine register for assistance...

PET BioNews
News
29 March 2019 • 2 minutes read

Trans men retain fertility one year after testosterone treatment

by Bernie Owusu-Yaw

The ovarian function of transgender men was preserved after one year of testosterone therapy, a small study has found...

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
News
15 February 2019 • 1 minute read

Israel's high court rejects prolific US sperm donor's petition

by Jen Willows

Israel's High Court of Justice has ruled that a woman may not use the sperm of a prolific US donor to become pregnant...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
4 January 2019 • 1 minute read

Irish government to set aside funds for IVF treatment

by Ruth Retassie

The Irish government has said that it will dedicate funding to couples needing IVF and assisted reproduction treatments...

Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
Image by Dr Christina Weis. © Christina Weis
News
30 January 2018 • 2 minutes read

New Assisted Reproduction Bill in Ireland gathers pace

by Ruth Retassie

Details of Ireland's proposed Assisted Human Reproduction Bill were revealed in a meeting of the Oireachtas Health Committee...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
Comment
31 October 2017 • 5 minutes read

Reform of assisted reproduction in Ireland is long overdue

by Dr Michelle Rodgers

Equity and access are among the most urgent issues for medically assisted reproduction. According to Ireland's Health Research Board, across Europe six countries offer full public funding, and 19 countries offer partial public funding...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
9 October 2017 • 2 minutes read

Ireland to offer state-funded IVF

by Georgia Everett

For the first time couples in Ireland will be eligible for financial aid for fertility treatments, after the Government signed off new proposals last week...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« FILM: Whose Genome Is It Anyway? Big Data and Your DNA

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.

Find out how you can advertise here
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Popular
  • Recent
8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

FILM: 200 Years of Mendel – From Peas to Personalised Medicine

1 August 2022 • 4 minutes read

Women's Health Strategy plans reflect rising needs of same-sex female couples

25 July 2022 • 4 minutes read

Was the Women's Health Strategy worth the wait?

25 July 2022 • 4 minutes read

Why the UK should extend the 14-day rule to 28 days

25 July 2022 • 5 minutes read

200 Years of Mendel: From Peas to Personalised Medicine

8 August 2022 • 4 minutes read

Citizenship and same-sex parents – about time, Sweden!

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

FILM: 200 Years of Mendel – From Peas to Personalised Medicine

1 August 2022 • 4 minutes read

Women's Health Strategy plans reflect rising needs of same-sex female couples

25 July 2022 • 4 minutes read

Was the Women's Health Strategy worth the wait?

25 July 2022 • 4 minutes read

Why the UK should extend the 14-day rule to 28 days

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856