Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To address the points made by Deputy Mac Lochlainn, the aim of this amendment, which would remove the requirement that a donor assisted human reproduction procedure be carried out only be a registered medical practitioner or a registered nurse, appears to be that the parentage of a child born through a non-clinical procedure such as self-insemination would be recognised under the provisions of this Bill. These provisions have been carefully designed to allow the assignment of parentage in limited and specified circumstances. A requirement that the treatment takes place in a clinical context is an important element of the safeguards included. If wider provision were made for the assignment of parentage other than on the basis of genetic connection, this obviously would have significant consequences for the positions of natural fathers, for example.

There are several difficulties with Deputy Mac Lochlainn's proposal even if consents can be taken in broadly the same way as envisaged in sections 4, 9, and 11. In particular, it will not be possible to have independent verification that the child was born through a donor assisted human reproduction procedure and it will, therefore, not be possible to provide the necessary certificate under section 25(5). That certificate is essential to enable a couple to jointly register as the parents of a donor-conceived child. There would also be significant difficulty in ensuring that the safeguards allowing revocation of consent by a donor can be properly implemented. The case law on the position of a donor in cases of self-insemination is to be found in the Supreme Court judgment in the case of McD v. L. This found that the man concerned was, in law, the child's father and had the same statutory rights to seek guardianship, custody and access as another non-marital father.

The Bill does not attempt to regulate this issue or, for example, to ban it. It has the consequences though in relation to parentage as set out in section 5. However, where all of the adults involved are in agreement and it is in the best interest of the child concerned, there are options available which will allow a non-biological parent to secure a legal relationship with the child. That person could apply for guardianship of the child under section 6(c) of the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, as inserted by section 45 of the Bill, leaving the parental status of the natural father unaffected. Alternatively, of course, the mother and her partner could jointly adopt the child under the Adoption Act 2010 as it is proposed to be amended by this Bill.

In short, they will have a route to parentage which does not run the risk of undermining the position of natural fathers. I cannot accept the amendment. There is a very clear process and approach laid out in the Bill in relation to the question of the procedure and where it is carried out.