Ms Paula Fagan:

I thank the committee for inviting LGBT Ireland to attend the meeting today. I am joined by our legal adviser, Dr. Lydia Bracken, who authored our recent submission, and we will split our opening statement time between us. Our aim today is to give the committee an understanding of the specific challenges facing same-sex parents and their children in the absence of a clear legislative framework in Ireland relating to donor assisted human reproduction and surrogacy.

By way of introduction, I should explain that LGBT Ireland is a national charitable organisation which provides support and advocacy services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their family members. We provide this through a confidential help line service as well as face-to-face supports through our peer support groups. The issues raised through our front-line services inform our advocacy work. In 2017, calls and emails requesting information on parenting rights were the most frequent advocacy inquiries to our organisation. This led us to hold a series of public meetings and events in Dublin, Cork and Galway in 2018, where we met with hundreds of families and same-sex couples planning parenthood. It is their experiences that inform our submission and input to the committee today.

The proposals we put forward are based on protecting the best interests of the child and are informed by reference to the rights of the child under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 42A of the Constitution. It is argued that the best interests of the child are met through laws that recognise the reality of life for the child and that ensure the child can be fully cared for by the adults whom he or she regards as parents. For children raised in families headed by same-sex parents, this means that they should have the opportunity of acquiring a legal relationship with both intended parents and those parents should have all the legal tools necessary to care for their children.

The reality for children being raised by same-sex parents in Ireland today is that they have no way of establishing a legal parental relationship to both parents who care for them. This disproportionately affects donor conceived children with same-sex parents as their relationship to both parents is often questioned, causing considerable stress and uncertainty for these families. This is particularly so where medical consent is required or when obtaining legal documents such as passports but it also arises in everyday situations, for example, providing consent for school trips. Several families we spoke to have children with serious health conditions that require ongoing medical attention, and for these parents the stresses caused by the lack of legal rights put an additional strain on them.

While we acknowledge this is complex legislation and support the thorough examination of all issues involved, we ask that the committee progress its deliberations urgently. This is a time sensitive issue, and families and couples planning parenthood cannot wait indefinitely. The lack of clear regulations leaves couples making decisions about donor assisted human reproduction pathways based on what they think and guess the legislation will be, which may have far-reaching implications for their future family life. As each day passes the number of families living in legal limbo is increasing and this will continue until legislation in this area is fully commenced and widely communicated. It is imperative that the proposed legislation includes retrospective provisions to cover families that already exist.

I will hand over now to Dr. Bracken to continue our submission.