John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

Before we proceed, I would like to say something about section 19 in general, in light of what previous speakers have said. Section 19 imposes the primary obligation to register on the parents, but in many instances involving assisted reproduction or surrogacy there is a problem defining who are the parents of the legal entity. The Bill, in various sections, refers to "the mother". What mother are we talking about? Are we talking about the genetic mother who donated the egg, the gestational mother who actually gave birth or the intended social mother? I presume we are taking "the mother" to mean the birth mother, but a difficulty arises in cases of surrogacy, for example, where the birth mother cannot present herself to the registrar because she may have relinquished the right to the child, thus implying that the social mother must present herself to the registrar. I am concerned about this. I know it is a complex area but, unfortunately, if this legislation is throwing up complex matters, we must face up to them and not brush them under the carpet.

I know the Minister referred to the "qualified informant", which is fine, and the Bill is quite specific that the qualified informant must attend before any registrar if the parents are dead or incapable through ill health of complying with what is required of them. This would apply where the biological father of the child makes an application for guardianship, but he has no right to register the child under this section.

This matter will recur as we consider other sections of the Bill. If the section uses terminology such as "father" and "mother", we must be very careful regarding our intended purpose. I know we are getting into a complex area, but I believe we should consider it very carefully. As we consider other sections, it will become far more complicated.