Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have been very touched by the testimonies here today. There is no doubt that the road to parenthood has not been easy for any of the witnesses. The stories that I have heard today are heartbreaking - having a stillborn baby, losing the baby, being unable to give birth and then being denied the chance to adopt, which is really awful, considering that there are 140 million children in this world that are orphans. There are 100,000 orphans in Ukraine. It is difficult to be told one cannot adopt for medical reasons, as was the case with Ms Wheatley. Was adoption an option for anybody else?

I heard what Ms Wheatley said about the surrogate mother, the counselling after the birth and the fact that she is touch with her and wants contact. That emotional bond will be there for ever. You are the mother of her children. How will that affect Ms Wheatley and her family going forward? How will it affect the children? How will it affect the surrogate mother in the long term?

When Ms Wheatley looked at Ukraine, did she look at some of the issues in terms of what the Ombudsman for Children said about surrogacy there? Why Ukraine in particular?