Dr. Lydia Bracken:

One of the benefits of being so late in the day in terms of legislation is that we have the benefit of observing what other countries have done. That makes it easier to identify best practice. We can pick advantageous parts of other states' legislation to create a really solid foundation for our own regulation. The proposals we have put forward in our submission would create a more coherent structure for surrogacy in Ireland and would better balance the rights of all stakeholders in the process. It is very important to remember that there are a number of stakeholders involved and all of their rights and interests need to be balanced against one another. Looking at what has been done in other jurisdictions helps with that and allows us to build coherent legislation.