Written answers

Thursday, 11 November 2021

Department of Health

Assisted Human Reproduction

Photo of Pauline TullyPauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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367. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the urgency with which an Assisted Human Reproduction Bill is required so as to give legal certainty to mothers of children born through surrogacy who presently have guardianship status which ends when the child turns 18 years of age removing any legal link between the child and mother; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55340/21]

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, drafting of a bill on assisted human reproduction (AHR) and associated areas of research is ongoing by officials in my Department, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General. This legislation encompasses the regulation for the first time of a wide range of practices undertaken in this jurisdiction, including domestic surrogacy.

The surrogacy provisions of the Bill outline the specific conditions under which surrogacy in Ireland will be permitted, including a requirement for all surrogacy agreements to be altruistic and pre-authorised by the new AHR Regulatory Authority. The legislation sets out a court-based mechanism through which the parentage of a child born through surrogacy may be transferred from the surrogate to the intending parent(s).

The draft Bill does not contain provisions to provide for retrospective declarations of parentage. Issues which arise from the assignment of retrospective parentage concern areas of law that intersect across the remits of several Government Departments and require detailed examination. My Department is engaging with the Department of Justice and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in respect of these matters.

Publication of the AHR Bill is a priority for my Department and the Government, and a commitment to enact this legislation is included in the Programme for Government, “Our Shared Future”. This Department will continue to engage intensively with the Office of the Attorney General in order to finalise this complex legislation.

The AHR legislation aims to promote and ensure the health and safety of parents and others involved in the process (such as donors and surrogate mothers), while, most importantly, consideration of the welfare and best interests of children born as a result of AHR is a key principle underpinning all legislative measures in this area.

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