Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In principle, assisted human reproduction just refers to ways of addressing infertility problems. Up to 10% of couples experience infertility and they deserve our understanding and support. I understand many Members of the House support this legislation. However, it is important that all facets of the Bill are carefully considered. It is planned to take all Stages. This is simply not enough time for legislation of such consequence.

I hope to focus on exploitative practices connected to surrogacy which all of us, regardless of our political affiliations or feelings on this issue, can condemn. Many in this Chamber can agree that when a profit motive is involved there are many opportunities for exploitation. A lot of countries have developed industries for surrogacy that are not well regulated. Ukraine is an example. According to Emma Lamberton, writing in the Journal of Public and International Affairs, which is published by Princeton University, “Exploitation of surrogates is a major concern. More than 150 women apply to be surrogates every month in Ukraine, due largely to financial need”. She also states “Ukrainian surrogacy companies now hold over a quarter of the global surrogacy market ... since a series of human rights violations caused India, Thailand, and Nepal to close their borders to foreigners seeking surrogates”. Our Government has overlooked the exploitation that can be rife in the commercialised surrogacy industry and is compounded now by the Ukrainian war. Lamberton states:

In most surrogacy contracts, women give up all rights related to controlling their pregnancies. While there is no large-scale data, surrogates report undergoing forced abortions of fetuses unwanted by clients, significant underpayment, unsafe and oppressive living environments provided by surrogacy agencies, poor health care for both birth and pregnancy-related complications, and long-term physical damage due to the surrogacy process ... There is also reported psychological damage, with some surrogates feeling forced to violate their deeply held moral beliefs due to financial pressure.

Within our surrogacy legislation we must make provision to disincentivise people from engaging in commercialised surrogacy of this nature, which exploits vulnerable women. In this legislation the birth mother will not be listed on the birth certificate. This has the potential to create a range of legal obligations. Many countries only recognise the birth mothers on birth certificates. This risks creating legal complications for the children of surrogates later in life. If an Irish surrogacy arrangement involves a surrogate mother in a country where only the birth mother is listed on the birth certificate, it could result in complications where the adoption process would then be relied on for recourse and could take months if not years to rectify. I fear if this section of the legislation is not corrected, we could be sleepwalking into another birth information and tracing crisis, especially considering issues with data processing and management in countries with poorly regulated industries devoted to surrogacy. It is imperative we provide some protection and access to information about the birth mother of any surrogate child.

My Second Stage speech would be longer if I were to cover issues related to child exploitation, especially the fates of children who are unwanted or disabled. A guarantee to provide legal representation for surrogates and the children of surrogates who experience unfair treatment must be included in the legislation. Regulation and legislation are clearly required, but IVF should not involved the deliberate destruction of human embryos. It is the case that IVF can be performed without deliberately destroying human embryos. It is unnecessary to create multiple embryos. Clinic personnel should only be allowed to create the number of embryos that can safely be placed in the woman’s uterus. This is something we should give attention to whether we ascribe any sense of personhood to an embryo or not.

I implore Members to take this debate on all Stages, put whatever personal feelings they have about this issue to one side and consider amendments to mitigate the harmful effects of this legislation. It would be an unfortunate state of affairs if this debate comes down to little more than almost everybody in this Chamber saying surrogacy is great and we need as much of it as possible. This legislation takes commercial surrogacy-----