Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Wingfield's comments and starting contribution are incredibly honouring of couples, particularly women, going through fertility. Her reply to Deputy Funchion also honours that. There is a feeling in circles that there is a presumption of mala fides on the part of couples who engage in surrogacy. To hear Dr. Wingfield point out almost a bias in the proposed legislation is refreshing and good. It comes from somebody who has a long-established reputation in this area going back to 2005. I begin by acknowledging that and I thank her for it.

I refer to Dr. Winfield's contribution in February 2018 to the pre-legislative scrutiny of the AHR Bill. There is nothing in what I will say that is not already in Dr. Wingfield's statement so I am not going to land her with anything. One of the first things that emerges from her contribution is a frustration that it has taken so long, and I see that reiterated today. I think all of us are with her on that. She replied to a question by saying: "If a woman is willing to be a surrogate to help another person have a child - a really good act - or to donate some of her eggs, bringing a risk to her, or if a man is willing to donate sperm to help others, it is only fair that they should receive some compensation." She went on to cite where that, perhaps, is not so ethical. We can do it ethically if we discuss the issue properly. This meeting, in both of our sessions, has been very much about discussing the issue properly.

The words "commercial surrogacy" are weaponised, in my view. They are weaponised as a deterrent and almost as a reason that we should not legislate. Within that concept is a very wide range of compensation all the way through to the criminal activity that happens with bad actors in some clinics in some countries. I would like Dr. Wingfield to talk about the compensation and that understanding, as well as the fact that there is no internationally understood definition of commercial surrogacy. Commercial surrogacy can be ethical. It is not always synonymous with child trafficking, which is one of the labels that get thrown at people who enter into surrogacy by reason of their infertility. Will Dr. Wingfield explore the compensated surrogacy or commercial surrogacy?