Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on International Surrogacy entitled "Final Report of the Joint Committee on International Surrogacy", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 6th July, 2022.

Before I start, I would like to extend the warmest of welcomes to everybody in the Visitors Gallery, namely, Irish Families Through Surrogacy, Irish Gay Dads, Equality for Children, LGBT Ireland and their families and friends. I know they have a lot of support here today. I would particularly like to mention Scarlett Seery Kearney, who was one of the key advocates on this issue. I welcome everybody.

I am very proud to introduce this report from the Joint Committee on International Surrogacy. It remains an immense point of pride for me that I got the opportunity to chair this important committee and that we have produced this robust and well-considered report. I want to start my contribution by thanking my fellow members from both the Seanad and the Dáil, from Opposition and from Government, for their work on this committee. We all worked together very well and strove at all times to maintain a respectful debate in the committee, while discussing issues which are, by their very nature, emotionally charged. As members, we have been compassionate, fair and evidence-based on the issue of international surrogacy, having particular regard to the rights, interests and welfare of children born through surrogacy, both into the future and existing children, those of surrogates and of intending parents.

The pathways to parenthood are evolving, with assisted human reproduction becoming a more complex and fast-moving area of healthcare. Ireland must keep pace with this evolution and implement changes when necessary. However, to date Ireland has been a laggard in this area which has resulted in a legal lacuna that has had a significant impact on children and families across Ireland and which presents risks to those on their surrogacy journey.

The Assisted Human Reproduction Bill 2022 is currently going through the Houses. This provides Ireland with an opportunity to bridge the gap in our laws which has long been a cause of concern for international human rights bodies and the Irish Supreme Court. The Bill provides for domestic surrogacy. Countries such as the UK and New Zealand are currently reviewing their long-existing laws on international surrogacy so this debate is more timely than ever. The topic of international surrogacy is complex and sometimes divisive, with issues regarding the safeguarding of surrogates and children being a key concern. I want to acknowledge these concerns and I hope this report provides a framework from which a robust system can be implemented. It was indicated by many of the stakeholders that while the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill provides for domestic surrogacy, intended parents will still seek international surrogacy as a pathway to parenthood and that the non-regulation of this area could see children, surrogates and intended parents left exposed. It will also see families left in a legal limbo and we have seen many instances of that happening, with workarounds their only option for obtaining any parenting rights. While considering all parties, it is the children born through international surrogacy who must remain at the forefront of any framework implemented and we must ensure that no child is treated differently based on circumstances of his or her birth. Unfortunately, that is currently not the case in Ireland.

The committee met over a number of months last year and engaged extensively with academics, legal experts, and stakeholders from various national and international organisations. We were incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to engage with children, families and surrogates themselves who have lived experience of the surrogacy journey. I met many families from Wicklow who told me their stories of struggle and their happiness when surrogacy worked for them. There was significant agreement among all witnesses that the biggest risk to the welfare and rights of children, surrogates and intended parents currently is the lack of regulation by the State. On behalf of the committee, I want to sincerely thank all of the witnesses who assisted us in this important work. We were all heartened to see the Government take on board the committee's recommendations and announce its plans to incorporate them into the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill which is currently going through the Dáil. This will provide Ireland with an opportunity to bridge the gaps in our laws which have long been a cause for concern. It is my hope that Ireland can take a lead in this very important global issue by tackling this complex yet important area, providing a timely and robust framework that will protect all those involved. I also want to thank the staff of the Oireachtas, particularly Ms Fiona Cashin andMr. Seamus Kennedy, and the committee's secretariat and legal advisers because without their help and assistance, this report would not be as robust and strong as it is.

I do not have time to go through all 32 of the committee's recommendations. Interested Members can read them in detail in the final report. However, I would like to highlight some of the key recommendations. It is important to note that the report not only looked at surrogacy arrangements into the future, but also at the situation currently for children already in Ireland who were born through surrogacy and the impact on them. Fundamentally, the key recommendations are that where an international surrogacy arrangement meets the criteria set out in the guidelines recommended by this committee, the intended parents should be able to apply to the courts for a parental order in respect of both parents and this must be carried out in an expeditious process. That last point is key. It must be

quick and easy. The parental order should name the intended parents and child born through international surrogacy and should declare the intended parents to be the parents of the child, equal in rights to the child, regardless of biological connections and that the order creates an entitlement to all rights and an obligation to all duties prescribed by the State, or otherwise, for the parents and child in relation to each other. I have been describing and explaining to people what this issue is about. When I tell them that there are children in this State who have no legal connection to their parents, that there are mothers or second parents in this State who have no legal connection to their children, they can immediately see the unfairness in that. This is something that we need to keep at the forefront of our thinking on this.

The parental order shall name the surrogate, declaring the severance of any parental relationship with the child, removing all parental duties and responsibilities from her prescribed by statute or otherwise. It came across very clearly at the committee that surrogates do not want to have a formal, legal relationship with children. That was not their intention and the current situation whereby that legal connection is still in place is not what anybody wants.

One of the issues we also discussed was how to protect surrogates and ensure that the surrogacy framework is ethically sound. Intended parents in international surrogacy arrangements should be obliged to provide evidence that the necessary requirements are met in order for a parental order to be issued. No surrogacy arrangement should be entered into in a country which prohibits surrogacy. The surrogate should receive independent legal advice, as should the intended parents. The committee stepped through every single scenario and came up with a practical, workable solution for every one of them.

On the retrospective issue, in cases where international surrogacy arrangements have taken place before the introduction of legislation regulating them, intended parents should be able to apply for parental orders. This application process should be less onerous than the process for future surrogacy arrangements. It is really important that we do not hold parents to a high bar when that bar was not in place when they first went through their surrogacy journey.

The willingness of families, lobby groups, advocacy groups and individuals too share their stories and lived experiences was essential to the work of the committee. That is how we managed to come out with 32 very strong recommendations. Their voices shed a whole new light on the issue for many on the committee. For me, and for many on the committee, this was a huge learning exercise. Any preconceived ideas I had going into this committee were very quickly shaken once I heard the evidence and the lived stories.

Parents who have children through surrogacy face challenges that other parents simply do not face. If one is a parent in a couple who is not biologically identified as connected to his or her child, one faces real challenges. This could mean that, as a parent, one cannot get medical care for one's child. It could mean that if one is in a domestic abuse situation, one cannot leave the home because if one does, one must leave one's child behind because one has no connection with that child. It means that if a parent is sick, he or she is worried about what will happen to the child if something happens. These are the real, lived experiences of families, children and parents in this State at the moment and it is important that we move very quickly to rectify and remedy those issues.

In the run up to today's debate a number of individuals and advocacy groups, some of whom are in the Public Gallery, have raised some issues of concern with me and I seek clarity on them from the Government. We have had a period when there has been no information and because of that vacuum, concerns have been raised. These concerns relate to the operation of the proposal, what will be included in the Bill, what limitations will be placed on things like countries, reasonable costs and compensation processes, as well as the speed with which retrospective parenting rights will be applied. It is really important to clarify these matters. The Minister met the groups earlier today and it is really important that consultation and discussion is kept open and that there is a continuous engagement with the people who will be most impacted by this. It is their voices that the Minister needs to hear as we move forward to the next stage.

In December, when the Minister met with these groups and told them that the Government was taking on board the recommendations of the committee, there was huge joy among all of those parents.

There was joy and relief because they felt that finally it was going to happen for them. However, there is also fear because they feel that they are so close, but they have been close before. What we need now is for this to move into the next stage.

We need to move from the recommendations to the Government taking them on board, getting them into legislation and getting that done quickly. People need clarity and certainty. Children and parents need their rights respected.

I have two main asks of the Ministers. Will they please provide clarity on exactly what recommendations from the committee's report will be taken on board and the extent to which they will be applied? When can all this happen for people? Probably the key issue is when this will happen for people. For those families who are starting on their surrogacy journey, will this be in place for them? Will they know that their children will be legally recognised? They are my main asks.

I am pleased that both the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, and the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, are here today. I am thankful for the support they have shown to this process and to the families in the Chamber. At this stage, because so much work has been done, the report and the recommendations are robust. It is not the first report that has happened. I acknowledge Conor O'Mahony because he also provided and developed an extensive report. They all say much the same thing. We have that groundwork done. Now what we need is the political will to move it. I hope in their response today that the Ministers will indicate that political will is there and that the process will be moved along quickly in order that we can fill that legal loophole that is there and exists for people.

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