Mr. Shane Lennon:

This was dealt with in our submission as well. The Senator spoke about evaluating a destination and as a gay man, there are not many destinations available to me. The United Kingdom is one and there is also the United States of America and Canada. I have chosen to look at Canada for several reasons. I wanted to align to the guidelines issued by the Department of Justice to people undertaking international surrogacy. I am also considering the welfare of a surrogate mother, ourselves and the child who will be created. It is important to understand all those elements. There are also legal entities available there. In the Canadian example, every step of the process is legalised and managed by registered third parties, whether they are IVF clinics or agency staff taking care of surrogate mothers. The rights of everyone are very clearly stated from beginning to the end. It is why we are talking to the committee today because that is what everyone wants. Nobody wants to work in a grey space and the easiest way for us to have a child is still very complicated. Normal people are doing this. They do not have legal minds or backgrounds and they may not have a medical background. They just want to be a parent.

One of the main aspects I have considered is ensuring the surrogate mother has, I suppose, means to live outside any reimbursement made to her. The whole process should be welfare-focused and everybody should be taken care of, getting independent legal and psychological advice, with emotional support available throughout. That is the only way I would feel comfortable about doing anything. It is about protecting the surrogate mother, who is giving an enormous gift in doing what she does. The reward is never financial for anyone. A surrogate mother might do this because she knows people who have gone through IVF or fertility issues. Her heart is in the right place for doing it.

These are some of the key pieces. It is helpful for the surrogate mothers to know that because of the surrounding legislation, they would not be obliged to have any kind of legal relationship with the child. They do not want to have that. The intending parents, which are me and my husband in my case, want that obligation and legal process in place for us. We want to be legally recognised, having both that gift and the obligation. We do this knowing that when we return to Ireland, we have worked to some framework that we can present to the courts.

Does Senator Seery Kearney want Mr. Kenny Moore to come in on that?