Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 12, to delete lines 24 to 35 and substitute the following: " "AHR counselling"—

(a) in relation to AHR treatment, other than AHR treatment to be provided pursuant to a surrogacy agreement attached to a section 51 application, means a service provided by an AHR counsellor under which he or she counsels a person regarding the potential social and psychological implications that may arise in the case of the person where that person, or another person with whom the first-mentioned person is connected, is provided such treatment, or

(b) in relation to AHR treatment to be provided pursuant to a surrogacy agreement attached to a section 51 application, means a service provided by an AHR counsellor under which he or she—

(i) if the application involves two intending parents, counsels such parents regarding the potential social and psychological implications that may arise in the case of such agreement being approved under section 51 and, if applicable, such parents, or one of them, as the case may be, being provided such treatment,

(ii) if the application involves a single intending parent, counsels such parent regarding the potential social and psychological implications that may arise in the case of such agreement being approved under section 51 and, if applicable, such parent being provided such treatment, or

(iii) counsels the potential surrogate mother regarding the potential social and psychological implications that may arise in the case of such agreement being approved under section 51 and such mother being provided such treatment;".

This group of amendments relates to the provision of assisted human reproduction counselling. Amendment No. 6 is a technical amendment adding specificity to the definition of AHR counselling. This is in relation to counselling in domestic surrogacy arrangements. The is a separate definition of AHR counselling included in the new international surrogacy provisions.

I thank Deputy Shortall for her proposed amendment to amendment No. 6 concerning counselling for the partner of the surrogate. The advice I have is that it is not necessary for the following reason. We are amending the Status of Children Act 1987 to allow for the removal of the presumption of legal parentage in respect of the husband of the surrogate mother. Therefore, we want very much to empower the surrogate mother. It is very much up to the surrogate mother as to how she involves her spouse if, indeed, she has a spouse, in the entire surrogacy process. This includes potentially attending counselling sessions. Critically, his consent to the surrogacy is not required. It very much ensures full agency for the surrogate mother.

Section 17 of the Bill as initiated requires every intended parent to receive AHR counselling prior to being provided with AHR treatment. There is no stipulation for those making a donation of gametes or embryos. The intention behind amendments Nos. 46 and 47 is to make AHR counselling non-mandatory where the AHR treatment does not involve donor gametes, surrogacy or posthumous assisted human reproduction, although such patients will still be offered AHR counselling.

On the other hand, AHR counselling will be compulsory for donors in Ireland as well as those looking to undertake donor-assisted human reproduction procedures or any form of surrogacy arrangement or any posthumous AHR. This is because it is deemed that the receipt of counselling is essential prior to being provided with these more complex types of AHR treatment, involving implications and issues surrounding identity of the child and the commitments required in respect of personal information being recorded in the national donor-conceived person register and the national surrogacy register.