Ms Tracy O'Keeffe:

The Senator's question relates to Irish law on parentage and guardianship. Under the Status of Children Act, there is a presumption that in the case of an opposite-sex married couple whose marriage is subsisting and who have not separated, the husband is the father of a child born to a wife. That applies to children born or conceived in any manner. This presumption has been in law for a long time. As a married father, the husband is automatically a guardian. In order to displace that presumption, one must have recourse to the application for the declaration of parentage.

When the genetic father makes the application and is granted that declaration of parentage, the presumption then ceases to apply in relation to the husband of the surrogate mother so he is no longer the guardian. The genetic father will be. One of the orders he will get is he will be appointed the guardian of the child.