Ms Elaine Cohalan:

On behalf of the Assisted Human Reproduction Coalition, I thank the committee for the opportunity to present to it on international surrogacy, routes to parental recognition and issues arising from delayed parental recognition. I am a founding member and chairperson of Equality for Children. I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Most importantly, my wife, Jenny, and I are parents to our three-year-old daughter, Cate, who was conceived using assisted human reproduction, AHR. She likes to say, "Mommy, I am three, but I am a little bit four."

As many members of the committee will know, the desire to have children is indescribable. It is a feeling deep inside. It is a story of love, hope, joy and possibility. It is also a story of sacrifice, vulnerability and selflessness. It is an innate human desire to want to have a family, to raise a child and create a higher meaning in life. Many of us grow up dreaming of becoming parents. It is part of the fabric of who we are. It is a dream that cannot be forgotten, replaced or put aside, no matter our fertility, abilities or disabilities, sexuality or medical history.

For the majority of the population, the desire to have children and the decision to have them is their own. They do not require medical, legal or governmental intervention or permission in their journey towards becoming parents. Their pathway is clear and without barriers. However, an increasing population do require assistance to make their dreams come true. Irish relationships and families are no longer being created in the traditional chronological order of yesterday, when one would meet someone, marry, buy a home and create a family. Men and women are meeting and coupling later in life. More and more women are entering the workforce and focusing on their careers, as is their right, aiding in the country's economic, social and cultural development. The new chronology of creating a family is multifaceted. As such, we are going to see a continuing rise in the population looking to AHR solutions in creating families. If someone is single, has a disability, experiences infertility, is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, has a medical condition or has any combination of these circumstances, he or she may require AHR to have a child.

The Assisted Human Reproduction Coalition was formed in 2020 by a number of organisations representing and supporting people who required AHR to have a child. Our member organisations include LGBT Ireland, which provides national front-line services to the LGBT community and advocates for policy and practice change to improve the lives of LGBT people and their family members; Irish Families Through Surrogacy, a campaign for equal rights for Irish children born through surrogacy and legal recognition of their Irish mothers; Equality for Children, which campaigns for equality for children born to LGBTQ+ parents; Independent Living Movement Ireland, which supports disabled people to achieve independent living, choice and control over their lives and full participation in society as equal citizens; Irish Gay Dads, a support network for current and prospective gay dads in Ireland; and the National Infertility Support and Information Group, which offers support and guidance to empower people in their infertility journey.

We represent a broad range of people who, because of their circumstances, cannot make their dreams of bringing a child into the world come true on their own. We are fortunate to live in a time when advances in medicine have made the previously impossible possible. Our members no longer have to accept our fate and live through a life of loss and grief for what might have been, as many did before. Our wish to raise a family is not an expectation but a shared hope for healthy, happy and rewarding lives.

The well-being of our children is our central and enduring priority. We believe children need the secure, loving and nurturing environment of family to flourish. Laws and regulations should be designed as the invisible protector and enabler of children's well-being and their rights to family life and citizenship. We want a society where people who raise a family are supported and cherished, free of prejudice and discrimination. Our current laws and rules are rooted in the past and represent simplistic and, in some cases, regressive concepts of lineage, citizenship and parentage.

Regulation and recognition of different forms of conception, pregnancy and surrogacy vary around the world. The first human was born through IVF 44 years ago in 1978. In 1986, the first human being was born through gestational surrogacy. These advances in medicine have opened up a whole new world of opportunity and have aided in the creation of thousands of children and families throughout the world.

We need to adapt to new methods and approaches to conception, pregnancy, birth and family in a way that represents Irish values and ethics. We want to do this in a way that sets the highest standards for the protection and well-being of children, women and parents. We believe that, regardless of conception method, no child should be left behind or outside the law when it comes to his or her rights to family life, equality before the law, social security, status and protection by the State.

The absence of legislation on surrogacy in Ireland, as well as the lack of recognition of international surrogacy, has left surrogate mothers, children, and their intended parents, in a precarious legal limbo. The lack of legislation affects the daily lives of children, surrogates and the intended parents in many ways including birth registration, citizenship entitlements, healthcare access, and financially in terms of tax and inheritance. The current system, where the surrogate mother is recognised as the legal mother of the child, even if not genetically linked to the child, where a biological father, through a court process, can be declared a parent of a child born through surrogacy after birth, and where the second intended parent, whether biologically linked to the child or not, has to wait for two years before they can begin the process of applying to become the guardian of the child, which expires at age 18, is simply unacceptable in modern society. We can do better for these children and these families.

We need a system where all parties are treated with dignity and respect. That is a system where the surrogate mother and the intended parents receive independent legal and medical advice and enter into the arrangement freely with informed consent and receive counselling and support throughout the process. The welfare and best interests of the surrogate mother must be at the heart of the system. The surrogate mother must have full bodily autonomy throughout the process, not bear legal, social or financial responsibility for the child once they are born and be protected and safeguarded throughout the process. The best interests of the child must also be protected. Children must have access to information on their genetic history and conception, be able to access citizenship entitlements from their intended parents and have their family unit protected, recognised and safeguarded by the State. In addition, the intended parents must take on the legal, social and financial responsibility for the child as soon as they are born.

Unnecessary barriers and delays in providing legal pathways to recognise our families serve no one but harm many. Our children are children, deserving of the same recognition, support and protection as all children. They should not be labelled, categorised or treated differently because of the method of their conception or gestation. Our families are families - not different but equal.

Today, we will outline the significant negative impact the lack of legislation in this area has on the lives of our children and other children born through assisted human reproduction as well as the negative impact on surrogates and intended parents. I will now introduce representatives who will give a short outline of the impact the lack of legislation in this area has on their members. I thank members for their time, and I welcome their comments and questions.