Ms Cathy Wheatley:

I want to talk about identity and how we deal with it as parents. As Senator Seery Kearney has said, we did the best we could with what we had. At the time, some people went ahead and used donors but identifiable donors were not available. That issue will definitely have to be addressed. Nobody did anything wrong. They did the best they could at the time.

As an organisation, we welcome the publication of Professor O'Mahony's report. When I met him in person, I told him so. It is great to have a framework in place where we know the best interests of our children. As parents we know but it is good to have it there as well and the publication eliminates any doubt. The best practice for children is to have a right to their identity and that is what we try to provide.

I will talk about how I do it as a mother in talking to Ted and Elsie. I really believe that from an early age these conversations need to be had. Ted and Elsie are my twins and they are two years old now. If they grow up knowing everything that they know about their story, that is the healthiest possible thing for them. We talk to them daily. We tell them that mummy's tummy was broke and that I needed a lovely lady to carry them for me. Ivana is our much loved surrogate and we are in regular contact with her. We call Ivana their tummy mummy because she carried them for the nine months of pregnancy. Ted and Elsie very much know that during that time they were inside Ivana's tummy. That deals with one element of surrogacy and the carrying of a child.

It is important to try to establish a relationship with the surrogate. Ms Merrigan has a fantastic relationship with her surrogate Lydia, as I do with Ivana. We are in constant contact, exchange pictures of our families and give each other advice. It really is a fantastic relationship to cultivate. When we talk about pregnancy partnerships during pregnancy, that is really important because the relationship continues to be built for the children. We want our children to be able to know what happened. My children say, yes, Mammy, I was in Ivana's tummy, and she is our tummy mummy and you are my mummy. That works for us.

In terms of donor identity, Ted and Elsie were born through donor-assisted human reproduction. They very much know that story as well. We broke the information down into basic details. We have told them that I needed an egg because all of my eggs were cracked and did not work and, therefore, we had to get a lovely lady's egg. In terms of the basis of trying to talk to our children about this matter, we very much want to do that. As an organisation, we try to show people best practice and make sure the language used suits the children. I do not know if these are the right things to say. This is what I do as a mammy. I am not saying it is perfect; I am saying it is the way my children respond to it.

In order to move forward with identifiable donors, I was lucky that at the time I was able to get donor identity to be released to Ted and Elsie at the age of 18. We now know that this practice is not what is recommended. If I was in that position again, I would first fight for them to have a recognisable donor or I would go somewhere to make sure that was the case. Now that we have this information, we are able to put it into practice. That is what we want from the legislation going forward. We want to make sure we have a clear understanding for everyone involved.