THERE WERE EMOTIONAL scenes outside Leinster House today as families gathered to mark the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill passing all stages in the Oireachtas. The bill deals with fertility treatments for couples and single people and also provides a legislative framework for surrogacy. Prior to this, there were no laws in Ireland governing domestic or international surrogacy.
The complex legislation will also regulate a range of practices, including gamete and embryo donation for assisted human reproduction and research, preimplantation genetic testing of embryos, posthumous assisted human reproduction and and embryo and stem cell research. It will also ensure that any clinic providing AHR treatment within the State must hold a licence granted by a new authority, which will be established under this law. Once President Michael D Higgins signs the bill into law, parents of children born through surrogacy can apply for parental recognition for the first time.
Families embraced this afternoon, many in tears as the news reached them that the legislation had been passed in the Seanad. Catherine Wheatley, spokesperson for Irish Families through surrogacy, broke down in tears while holding her child, saying she is their mother “and that’s all that matters”, before she reached out and hugged Health Minister Stephen Donnelly. The minister said there are thousands of children born through surrogacy who have been waiting for their parents to be recognised as such under Irish law.
