Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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698. To ask the Minister for Health the current legal situation for parents of a child born through surrogacy in July 2025; if parental orders will be available to them; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9373/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 was signed into law by the President on July 2nd 2024, having passed all stages in both Houses of the Oireachtas.

The primary purpose of this complex and far-reaching legislation is to regulate fertility clinics providing treatment such as IVF (in-vitro fertilisation), ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection) and IUI (intrauterine insemination) and ensure that assisted human reproduction (AHR) practices and related areas of research are conducted in a more consistent and standardised way and with the necessary oversight. Therefore, the AHR Act 2024 encompasses the regulation for the first time of a wide range of practices undertaken in Ireland, including: the use and donation of gametes and embryos for AHR and research; pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT) of embryos; posthumous assisted human reproduction; and embryo and stem cell research.

The AHR Bill as initially published also included provisions in respect of domestic altruistic surrogacy. However, the final AHR Act 2024 also includes substantive new provisions in respect of the regulation of future surrogacy arrangements undertaken by Irish residents in other jurisdictions and the recognition of parentage arising from certain past domestic and international surrogacy arrangements. These new provisions were developed very much in line with the recommendations of the Special Oireachtas Joint Committee on International Surrogacy, of which, of course, the Deputy was Cathaoirleach. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the Deputy for her role as Cathaoirleach and the members of that Committee for their excellent work and deliberations on what is a very complex issue.

While the AHR Act 2024 was progressing through the Houses of Oireachtas, issues were identified which required further consideration and consultation with the Office of the Attorney General. Formal drafting of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment) Bill – which is largely concerned with outstanding issues of parentage and citizenship – is well underway, led by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, in conjunction with officials in my Department, and those of my colleagues, Minister Jim O'Callaghan and Minister Norma Foley.

The Deputy will appreciate that at this point I cannot give a definitive timeline for commencement of the AHR legislation; however, I can assure her that I wish to progress this much-needed legislation as soon as practicable.

In respect of a child who may be born in July 2025 as a result of a surrogacy arrangement, as presumably the relevant embryo transfer would have already taken place, there will likely be an opportunity for the intending parent(s) to apply for a Parental Order when the provisions in respect of the recognition of parentage arising from certain past surrogacy arrangements have been commenced. Thereafter, the High Court can decide to grant a Parental Order if it is satisfied that all the relevant criteria have been met.

As I understand, the current position in respect of the parentage of a child born as a result of a surrogacy arrangement is that most commonly an intending male parent who is genetically related to the child applies to the Courts for a Declaration of Parentage based on being the biological father of that child.

It should be noted that if the surrogacy arrangement referred to in the Deputy’s question is considered to be a past international surrogacy agreement under the relevant provisions, it is probable that the intending parent(s) will have been issued with a birth certificate by the jurisdiction in which the child was born which names the intending parent(s) as the parents of that child. In such a scenario, my officials inform me that the parental status of those so named on such a foreign birth certificate may in effect be accepted by public or State bodies in a number of instances, even prior to the commencement of the relevant “past surrogacy” provisions.