Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Professor O'Mahony for his opening statement and his report, which has been well read and well thumbed by me at this stage. I too had difficulties with the idea this morning that this is not placed within the AHR and does not have a place in it. At the core of surrogacy is infertility, which may be medical or social. Concerning the medical reasons for infertility, we have a practice in Ireland whereby if you have cancer of a particular type, they will freeze your eggs but you may go on to have a hysterectomy. What was the point of freezing the eggs if you have no womb to carry a baby in? There is a requirement, at the very least, in the AHR Bill to provide that pathway and deal with that. I was uncomfortable with certain states within the United States being mentioned this morning and New York, for instance, being left out, which has a very good regime for surrogacy.

Professor O'Mahony has alluded to today and mentioned in his report that there are deficits in the Children and Family Relationships Act, one of which relates to reciprocal IVF in same-sex couples. This relates to social infertility, which affects same-sex couples by their very nature. It has been said that Ireland does not want to be an outlier or be the first to legislate. We were the first to legislate in that manner for marriage equality, and nobody had a problem with that. Particular prejudices are coming out here, rather than genuine concerns. The shortcomings in the Children and Family Relationships Act discriminate particularly against same-sex female couples. Will Professor O'Mahony address and explain that? It is a real issue.