Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

The assisted human reproduction Act was passed by these Houses in 2024, but has not yet been enacted. Retrospective surrogacy legislation will provide a pathway to parental rights to the second parent of eligible families. This part of the Bill is aimed at ensuring that children born through surrogacy in the past have the same recognition as other families. I raise the case of my constituent in Meath West. Lorraine, who is a mother, gets her twins up and out to school every day, brings them to gymnastics and puts plasters on their cut knees, but who they call "Mammy" is actually called "Lorraine". She is not legally entitled to travel with them on her own, nor make medical decisions on their behalf. Lorraine and her husband live as unequal parents. He has full custody and grants her guardianship over her own children. Ten years on from marriage equality, the children of many of those marriages are not experiencing equality today. If the wider legislation is proving problematic, the retrospective surrogacy element should be progressed separately. These are living, breathing families operating in society. They should not continue to be viewed differently by the State.

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