Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask that he would not read through his papers. I will repeat what I said. I am not being rude and the Minister of State knows that I am very fond of him but I want him to listen to this. My sister was part of a team that delivered a baby in the largest maternity hospital in this city and following it she came to my house totally devastated that a baby had been delivered whose sex was not clearly defined. That baby and its parents were sent home to the west without the matter being raised with the parents. I will never forgot that night when my sister came to me and told me. She was very upset that the hospital sent them home without raising the matter with them. I do not know what the hospitals do now when a situation like that arises. I will never forget that night and it is indelibly printed on my mind. I often think of that child and how it got on in life. As Senator Craughwell said, it is hard enough in life when one knows who one is and what one is. If it is not clearly defined physically who one is when one is born, I cannot bear to think about how the child's life would be. I plead with the Minister of State on behalf of all the people here to consider this issue. It is interesting that it is mostly women who are speaking on this issue. It is fascinating.