Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will do my best. I will come back to some of the questions afterwards because some of them were really important. The first point the Senator raised was a really difficult one. Inasmuch as she has spoken to mothers who very much see themselves as "birth mothers", I have engaged with mothers who feel the term "birth mother" reduces them simply to individuals who gave birth, the implication being that the birth was their entire involvement with their child. They find that deeply insulting. They find the fact that the term has been used for 30 years deeply insulting. The Senator referred to the term "natural mother", which some mothers have suggested as an alternative. The Senator also referred to engagement with adopted children who believe the terminology used casts aspersions on their adoptive mothers. It is incredibly difficult.

What I was trying to do today was outline that I am cognisant of this issue. We are engaging with the relevant groups. There is a group in NUIG considering terminology. We are engaging with it also. We might have the opportunity, when the legislation is finally on Committee Stage, to consider this matter in more detail. I was really struck by the unanimous opposition of the group I met to the use of the term "birth mother" but I accept there are other views. As we said earlier, mothers do not comprise an homogenous group. I am flagging my willingness to engage and work further on this to try to reach a solution. We may not arrive at wording that pleases everybody, which is a risk. As Members of the Oireachtas, we have to be conscious of that.