Dr. Brian Tobin:

As I said earlier, I do not believe bilateral agreements are easy to achieve because jurisdictions differ so greatly. Few jurisdictions would fully qualify or come close in terms of law and practice to what is proposed in Ireland under the 2022 Bill.

Regarding the Verona Principles, I was involved in a debate in London on those principles over a weekend and even trying to hammer out agreement in that room among experts from the UK and Ireland was difficult. That is why the principles are quite broad as well. They are wonderful guiding principles that could lead to something like an international treaty in the area, but states differ from what the principles allow in terms of latitude also. Like Professor Madden, I would love if there were an international consensus in the form of a treaty. For the moment, we have to stick by principle No. 10 in the Verona Principles and have post-birth best interests of the child determinations whenever an international surrogacy takes place.