Ms Gillian Keegan:

I thank the Deputy for her question. I know she specifically mentioned secondary infertility. NISIG provides support services to anybody who approaches us. We have a helpline, run by Ms Helen Browne, who started the organisation in 1996. I say a huge "thank you" to her because without her and the other two ladies there would not be any organisation. There was no awareness in those days. She said there was nowhere to go to and it was very difficult to talk about anything. The options available in those days for assisted human reproduction, AHR, were very limited. There were some options in helping someone to have a baby but many people were not able to get there. Ms Browne said the world is our oyster now in that at least there are options or different procedures we can do.

We hold support meetings. It is quite interesting because we had our first support meeting post-Covid last Saturday. We held it in the Ashling Hotel in Dublin. I did not know if anybody would turn up, as it was the bank holiday weekend. I did not think it through properly when I was actually booking the room but seven beautiful people turned up. Some of the conversations we have in support meetings are with people who are just starting to realise they may need a certain amount of help, including people who have been on a journey for quite a while and those who may have had one child without too much help, or everything went fine and then they suddenly realise. I remember the husband of one couple who was at the meeting said to me they had their first child, who was six or seven, were trying for another child and this whole issue has dominated their house. This couple tried to have their second child and did a number of things that did not work. They then talked to a clinic in another country. He said he felt that even though this couple have a child it kind of dominates the landscape. Everything is about what they will do next and what their plans and options are.

We have people at our meetings who might have tried for a number of years to have a child, and may have a number of complex issues, but they also may be talking to us as an organisation about maybe not being able to have a child. That conversation is very hard for anybody to have. They might say to me they might have to face the fact they may not be able to have a child. They may try for seven years but then there are conversations around how they know when to stop. I have had all these conversations at many different meetings. When I was at the meeting last Saturday, since we had not actually been physically in a room with people for a long time, one particular lady spoke who was very upset. It only happened at the start of the meeting but it resonated with everybody. Even though I had my son with help ten years ago, I could feel that it brings people back to that place again. It can be very challenging for a couple. At least with NISIG, people can come to a meeting and talk to others about couples constantly having that tension around what they will do next, how they will manage this and so on.

We are basically here for everybody and do the best we can to support people. We are aligned with fantastic organisations that can help us. We help each other. I text Ms Merrigan or whatever when I need a little help. Ms Wheatley mentioned the workshops we have been doing. Specifically, we did them with couples through surrogacy. They are counsellor-led, donor disclosure workshops. They are about counsellors guiding people on the nuts and bolts of how to start the conversation with their younger children about their origins. That is something we have started doing with a number of groups and we plan to do it in the future.